A Death A Door and A Deal with the Devil
by JanusderLandstreicher
Summary: or How I got an offer I could not refuse. A story about Wish Fulfillment and what happens when someone is willing to pay almost any price to make their Greatest Wish come true. A RWBY/The Gamer Crossover OC SI Fanfiction.
1. Prologue

**Original AN: Welcome to my RWBY/The Gamer Crossover. It's my First Fanfiction, and so I ask Would you kindly leave a Review? Even if its just a short One, it would help me a Lot. That said, Lets start.**

 **EDIT: I have started to edit the first couple of chapters for increased readability and stuff. Oh, and the first chapters are fairly short but they grow longer over time.**

 **And one more thing, this is a fairly slow moving Story, just as a fair warning beforehand.**

* * *

 **A Death, A Door and a Deal with the Devil.**

 _Or, How I got an Offer I could not Refuse._

The first thing I noticed upon awakening was pain. Or perhaps one should say that pain was the only thing there was in the beginning, for in remembrance I find it impossible to tell when it began.

A nerve-wracking, bone-splintering, soul-shattering pain, that left everything I had ever felt before or after in its shadow.

I do not remember how long the agony lasted or even if time had any meaning at that point.

But I do remember that it did not last forever, for after a time the pain slowly receded. Ever so slowly like the tides of a sheer infinite ocean that slowly pushed me ashore.

But the pain did not fade away completely, nor has it ever since. A memory burned deeper then mere flesh and bone.

When my senses finally returned to me, I found myself in a pitch-black room of seemingly infinite expansion. No echo and both shouts of pain and the sound of steps muted and almost imperceptible.

I do not quite remember how long it was that I shouted and screamed and laughed and howled with madness from the mere memory of the pain, but it must have been quite some time. Eventually I grew tired and must have fallen asleep, for I dreamed.

 _A long corridor, filled with fluorescent lights, hurrying nurses and doctors. A seemingly ordinary hospital, if not for its shadows that seemed too deep, and its doorways that were dark and impenetrable, but for one._

 _Slow motion leads to that one bright doorway, but no echo of steps, no sounds as everything but that one doorway faded._

 _A room filled with a bed and machinery seemingly arcane in its unknown purpose._

 _On the bed a human, or what was left of one. Heavily bandaged, with one arm and legs missing. Surrounding the bed, family indistinct and hidden by deep shadows._

 _Out of the darkness then steps a man, dressed in black, looking very much like ones favorite actor._

" _It does not have to end here, you know?" His voice hauntingly familiar and yet strange._

" _Why not? What is there to return to? That Ruin?" That voice, just too well known and remembered, for who could forget ones own voice?_

 _The man's familiar face turns to the bed, and then to a window that had not been there but a moment ago._

 _He motions to follow and beckons to the window._

" _Come, take a Look."_

 _A drifting motion to the window and a quick look show first nothing but darkness, but then unveil a familiar picture. A blue orb hanging in the starlight ridden darkness of space._

 _The image zooms further and further in until it breaks apart into dozens of half remembered and familiar scenes._

 _Oceans filled with plastic and rubbish, but still there is life hanging on in spite of all pollution._

 _Green jungles teeming with life, only to end with burning and cutting, making place for the inexorable March of Mankind._

 _Mountains crumbling as ancient glaciers melt under the heat of sheer never ending Summer._

 _City's spreading further and further until they seemingly swallow everything that's left of nature, leaving only pollution and dust in their wake._

 _In the aftermath of a slowly dying planet one can see small ships spreading further and further forth from the planet until they loose themselves in the infinite distance of space._

" _Was any of that supposed to make me **want** to return?" _

" _You would know that better than I, so tell me, did any of that make you **want** to return?" The voice of that achingly familiar and yet strange Man sounded mocking._

" _In some ways I suppose it did. If only so I might see mankind reach the stars, this time for keeps." Ones own voice then tired and exhausted._

" _And I suppose if you showed me these things its because I might still play a greater role?"_

 _The man let of a small laugh, "Oh, but everyone has a Role. That's the problem with oh so special snowflakes..."_

 _A tired nod is all one can answer, knowing only too well the truth. That if everyone is unique like a snowflake, then that uniqueness is in fact not unique at all, but rather something everyone has, and thus nothing special at all._

 _The man continued then, "It is not about specialness or uniqueness but rather about usefulness." He stayed silent then, content to wait for ones inevitable question._

" _And I assume you would have a use for me?" Ones voice has lost some of its tiredness, having gotten a spark of eagerness back._

" _Of course!" The man grinned too wide, with too many teeth. "Why else would I go through the trouble of coming here."_

" _Very well, lets hear your offer then."_

" _You have always dreamed of power, personal power. Dreamed of controlling your own fate, your own life. And you have always been willing to do everything to reach your goals, small as they were in this world. But at the same time you always knew just how pointless the amassing of power was, how meaningless money and fame were."_

 _Ones eyes stared at the man, not in surprise of the accurate description, but rather patient, waiting for him to get to his point._

" _I could offer to take you to another world, where you would be reborn, or perhaps remade is the better word. There you would have a chance at attaining true personal power, everything you have always longed for, hoped for and desired from the deepest bottom of your heart."_

 _Once voice is skeptical, only too aware of deals and wishes. "And in return?"_

" _Oh, nothing much." The grin of the man becomes even wider, now showing off his obviously inhuman nature by stretching all the way around his head, showing off too many straight teeth._

" _Just your life in this world, and anything you could have accomplished here."_

" _Not my past or my memory's or the things that I have accomplished so far?"_

 _The Thing, no longer could it be called a man chuckled madly and answered._

" _Of course not, what do you take me for, a monster?" Upon saying that, the Thing laughed so hard and loud that the top of its head separated and showed off an endless maw filled with circles of teeth._

" _Quite frankly, yes." Ones voice is dry, having not truly expected anything else._

" _I assume that you would take possession of my body upon agreeing to the offer?"_

 _The Monster stops laughing and stared at One, dozens upon dozens of cold eyes filled with nothing but malice and madness._

 _Its voice now cold like an arctic winter. "You are as smart as I thought. I guess that means you wont agree?"_

" _I did not say that. But I wish to know more about the world you would send me too and when and where."_

 _The Monster then turned back into an oh so familiar man. He raised one eyebrow in the Air, "Oh, so you know that I would take your body and make it into my meat puppet and pretend to be you, and do probably some immeasurable damage to anyone you know and cared about and dredge the memory and image of you into the deepest and darkest, blood drenched places of mankind? And you don't care about that at all?"_

" _I once said, a long time ago that I was willing to pay almost any price to get the One Thing that I wanted most in the World. And I still mean it, in fact, perhaps now more then ever. So, show me that World, show me the One Thing my heart longs for most."_

 _The man grinned a wide, bestial grin and pointed at the window._

I must have woken up at that Point, for I remember nothing more of that dream.

I was still within that darkness, but in Front of me I saw now a large white Screen, that streamed its Light on nothing but itself.

 **BEGIN GAME?**

 **YES/NO**


	2. Begin Game

**EDIT AN: Just changed some spelling here and there. Not perfect but better than before.**

* * *

I do not remember how long I stared at that Screen. It could have been hours, days maybe years. Or it could have been minutes, seconds or shorter. It is not important.

In the end there was nothing left but the choice and a choice it was. Yes or No. A simpler choice I never made, for though my life before this dark and empty Room had been suffocated under the memory's of endless pain, I still remembered feelings and desires of that oh so empty life.

There really was no other way, so I pressed Yes and began my life anew.

At first the Screen vanished, and the dark and empty Room faded into White. Brilliant and blinding in its Contrast to the seemingly infinite Darkness of before.

After my eyes adjusted I gazed upon a silvery Wall, standing a little wider then I was, and stretching from the perl-white Floor beneath me into the far distance above me, until it became too small to see.

Nothing else apart from this Pillar could be seen in this Room, no walls and no roof. Only a white glow that made it impossible to tell any dimensions and distances.

In the silver reflection of the Wall I saw something. At first I thought it was an Image, but as I moved closer, and the picture moved in turn I realized that I was looking upon a mirror and the thing in the mirror was myself.

I saw a pale white humanoid, not too dissimilar in color to the Floor. Only the fact that its skin was not glowing allowed it to be seen against the backdrop of white light.

It had lanky arms and legs, too long and thin for its torso. Its Head was only vaguely shaped like that of a human. Like a puppet more then anything else. It had no ears, nor a mouth to speak with. Only a pair of Eyes could be seen, a pale almost gray Blue with a Ring of almost golden Yellow around the pupil.

When I first looked upon that Image I despaired, only to quickly realize then I did not know why these emotions filled me, for I could not remember having ever looked different. In fact I could not remember how I used to look at all. But I did know from those few nebular memory's that the Pain had left, that no one else around me looked like this.

A multitude of emotions then flooded through me. Anger, Rage, Sadness, Hate and deeper, unnameable feelings that reminded me of the Dread one feels when one has forgotten something horrible important, but knows that One can never remember it at all and yet it was crueler and more torturous then that. For this feeling implied a level of purposefulness, of meaning in the act of having robbed me of that oh so important memory.

After my rage had passed, I realized that I could damage neither the Pillar nor the Floor and not even myself, no matter how I might try. No matter how many times I rammed my fists against it. No matter how many times my feet trampled upon the floor or my head crushed against the mirrored Surface. None of it would budge, not even pain was a relief, for apart from that lingering memory I could feel very little. Only a vague pressure where my feet touched the ground, or where my hands touched the Wall.

After I had calmed I looked upon the Mirror and realized that something had changed. Where there used to be only me, there now was a glowing Script that looked strange and alien, and yet I could understand it.

 **CHARACTER CREATION**


	3. Tutorial

As I touched the Words they changed into a Whirl of Light that rearranged itself into Numerous Words and Options.

 ** _Tutorial_**

 _Race_

 _Gender_

 _Looks_

 _Advantages & Disadvantages_

 _Basic Stats_

 _Background_

 _Name_

 _Start Game_

Every Option but the First were Greyed Out and touching them did nothing. Upon touching the First Option however, the Words disappeared into a Swirl of Light and rearranged themselves into something else.

 _ **Tutorial:**_

Welcome to the Un-Helpful Tutorial 1.10384

You have made the Choice to sell your Body and your Home-world to Powers of the Outer Darkness in Return for the Fulfillment of your Dearest, Deepest Wish. We here at " " congratulate you on your Choice of Pact partner and would encourage you to tell all your Friends about us, if you still had any after selling out any and everything you ever cared about.

If you have any Questions or Concerns feel free to keep them to yourself, but if you feel the Overwhelming Urge to Complain about Something you may Contact your Administrator _-Devouring Darkness-_ under 0-1800-EATYOURSOUL. *,**

The Character Creation of the " " Gaming System has been perfected over hundreds of Iterations to reach the Form you are Perceiving right now.

While Earlier Forms still suffered from Minor Perception Interference Problems in the Form of Madness-Inducing Non-Euclidean Geometry's, these Problems have been largely eliminated through the Creation of an adapted Temporary Pseudo Player Avatar, which you are inhabiting right now.

That Form will be discarded upon choosing a Race and a Look from the Character Creation Menu.

In Smaller Text beneath that.

 _*The Callsign of the Number has no Effect on any rendered Services._

Beneath that in almost unreadable small Text

 _** " " is not responsible for any Loss of Soul and/Or Sanity resulting from contacting the Administrator -Devouring Darkness-._

 _ **Continue Tutorial**_

It took me a While to continue reading, still reeling from the Realization of what the Haze of Pain had hidden from me.

 **Important Choices for the Character Creation:**

As soon as you have finished the Tutorial you may start creating your Character. Character in this case means the Being you will inhabit on the Server "Remnant" upon starting the Game. And don't Worry, a completely new Body will be created specifically for you, so no need to worry about being a Body Snatcher. Leave that to the Professionals.

At the Beginning of the Character Creation you have to choose the Race of your new Character. A very important Choice since it influences the available Options during the Rest of the Character Creation and the available Storypaths during your Playthrough.

On your chosen Server "Remnant" you can choose from three different Races. Other Options are not available at the Time. Precise Descriptions of the Races are available under the Races Menu.

Once you have chosen your Race you may proceed to choose the Gender of the Character you inhabit. Availability on your chosen Server "Remnant" is restricted to Male/Female/Neutrum depending on your chosen Race. Your chosen Gender can have a great Impact on your Characterplay, but has little Impact on Stats or Skills.

Next comes the Look Menu. Here you can customize the Looks of your Character. Specific Options dependent on your Choice of Race and Gender.

Once that is done you will experience a small Amount of Excruciating Pain, as your Temporary Pseudo Avatar is changed to mimic your chosen Race, Gender and Looks.

Once you have recovered from that you may proceed to choose your Advantages and Disadvantages. Every Player starts with One Available Point for Advantages and One Locked Disadvantage. Here you should choose Wisely, for these Advantages and Disadvantages can not be Gained or Lost during Gameplay, barring Extraordinary Circumstances.

 _ **Continue Tutorial**_

Slowly Memories returned to me, from endless Hours playing Games. Endless Hours talking with half-forgotten Friends, over Tables filled with Papers and Dice. Memory's of Happiness but also a deep, bone achingly strong Longing. But for what, I could not quite remember. So I continued reading, hoping to understand more. More of what happened, what I had chosen, and what was going to happen.

 **Choosing your Stats:**

Next you may choose to modify your Basic Stats. These are numerical Representations of the Way your Body, Mind and Soul function and interact with your Environment.

The Three Categories, Body, Mind and Soul are each separated into again three Categories.

These Categories are:

 **Body:**

 **Brawns** influences how much you can lift, how much Close Combat Damage you can make, and how much Weight your Inventory can hold.

 **Toughness** influences how much Damage you can take, how resistant you are to Poisons, Injury or Sickness, and how fast your Stamina and Health regenerates.

 **Nimbleness** influences how fast and agile you can move, how Dextrous your Fingers are and how good you are at Aiming.

 **Mind:**

 **Brains** influences how smart you are, how fast you can think, and some Aura-based Abilities and Skills.

 **Charms** influences how attractive you are to Members of the Same Race, how good you are at convincing People, how easy it is to Lie and Bluff.

 **Noticing** influences how much you can See, Hear, Smell, Taste or Touch. Also all Secondary Senses.(Proprioception, Timing, Orientation etc.)

Supernatural Senses are Influenced by Noticing, Aura and Brains.

 **Soul:**

 **Aura** influences your Ability to use the Manifestation of your Soul as both a Weapon and a Shield. It influences how much Aura you have, how fast it regenerates and all Aura-based Skills and Abilities.

 **Luck** influences how much the Will of the World looks upon you with Kindness.

This Stat has been reduced to 0, is Locked and can not be raised through either Training or Level-Up Points.

This is a Glitch happening through the Interaction of the Automatic Disadvantage "Pact of Darkness" that is obtained by the Player upon starting a New Game, and the Player chosen Server "Remnant". The Effect of Luck 0 in this Case is that the Old Adage "Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong" becomes a Factual Truth for the Character during his Playthrough. *Any unwarranted Complains may be addressed by contacting the Administrator -Devouring Darkness-.

 **Netherness** is a Measure of how Close the Player is to permanent Death and is Preserved through all Playthrough`s. Every Time the Health Points of the Character are reduced to 0 he is returned to the Main Menu and given the Option to Continue the Game, upon choosing so his Netherness is raised by 1. Every Point in Netherness reduces one Randomly Chosen Basic Stat under Body or Mind by 10%. The Character permanently dies when One Stat reaches 0.

 _ **Contine Tutorial**_

All of the Terms and Words I read seemed so achingly Familiar, and yet, part of it let my Soul shiver with Fear and Disgust. Though whether it was the Script itself, the Way it was presented, or this White Space and Puppet-body I could not tell. Still I read on, hoping to come to an End.

 **Derived Stats and other Information:**

These Stats can not be directly raised with Points, but are Vital to the Function of the Character.

 **Health Points** :

These are a Measure of how much Damage a Character can take before his Death. Injury's like broken Bones, Dislocated or missing Limbs and Others are handled in the Form of temporary Restrictions.

A Character has Toughness x10 in Health Points and regenerates Toughness in Health Points every 24 Hours.

Healing of Injury's is handled separately, but is also dependent on Toughness.

 **Stamina Points** :

This is a Measure of how much physical Work a Character can accomplish before he gets exhausted. Exhaustion is a temporary Restriction that can lead to Loss of Health Points if the Character Exerts further after reaching it.

A Character has Toughness x 100 in Stamina Points and regenerates Toughness in Stamina Points every Minute of complete Rest.

 **Aura Points** :

This is a Measure of how much Aura a Character has to use as a Shield or a Weapon.

Exhausting ones Aura leaves one open to Damage and restricts Use of the More Powerful Skills and Abilities.

A Character has Aura x 10 in Aura Points and regenerates his Aura in Aura Points every Hour.

 **Level Up and Skill Experience:**

With every Action, Deed and Murder you will gain Experience. Gather Enough and you can gain a Level Up. This will allow you to put some Points per Level into your Basic Stats. (Precise Number depending on a Number of different Factors)

But that is only One way to Raise your Basic Stats. The Other Way is simply using them. If you want to raise your Brawns Lift Heavy Weights. If you want to raise your Toughness, get stabbed a lot. If you want to raise your Brains, use it for once.

Skills and Abilities are only raised through using them. They gather Experience separately from your Character Level. The Maximum Level for any Skill and Ability is 100. Upon reaching that Level you may gain the Opportunity to transform the Skill or Ability into a Superior Form.

 _ **End Tutorial**_

I hesitated before pressing the last glowing Script, thinking about everything I had read, trying to recollect Thoughts and Memory's buried beneath an infinite Black Room and Pain reaching deep into the Soul.

I stood there for a Time, unmeasurable, for there was nothing to Measure Time with. Just thinking, feeling, trying to come to Terms with what happened, what I remembered doing. In the End I came to no Conclusions, only endless Thoughts running in Circles. And so I ended the Tutorial and truly started creating a New Life.

As I pressed on End Tutorial the Characters vanished once more in a Swirl of Light and rearranged themselves into a familiar Form.

 ** _Race_**

 _Gender_

 _Looks_

 _Advantages & Disadvantages_

 _Basic Stats_

 _Background_

 _Name_

 _Start Game_


	4. Choosing a Race 1

**AN: So, here we go again. I was really happy to see People following my Story, after having posted so little thus far. That was, like, suuuuper Motivational and Stuff... Anyway, If you see Grammatical Errors or Things like that, don't hesitate to tell me since I'm not a Native Speaker and I'm always looking to improve my writing. So if you see something you like and would like to see more, or if you see something you don't like, and would not like to see more of, Review and I'll see what I can do.**

 **That said, onwards with the Story.**

* * *

 _For in the Beginning there was only Dust, and from Dust was shaped the World._

 _And the Shape of the World was filled with Fire and Storms, Earthquakes and Floods._

 _And from them rose the Will of World, just as Cruel and Unforgiving as the Cataclysms that gave Birth to it._

 _And it is said that in the Beginning there was only Dust, and from that Dust was born Man, into a Cruel and unforgiving World._

 _But Man was born both Strong and Wise, and would not let a Cruel World determine their Destiny. And so Man worked great Arts and shackled the Shape of the World to their Desires._

 _And the Will of the World looked upon the Works of Man and was angered, for Man had tamed the Storms and the Fire and the Earthquakes and the Floods._

 _And so the Will of the World was filled with Malice and Hatred against Mankind and all its Works. That Rage took the Form of Black Monstrosity's that drowned the City's of Men in a Tide of Blood and Bone._

 _For it is said in the Beginning there was only Dust, and it is to Dust that all will return._

* * *

 _ **Race:**_

 _ **Human**_

Humanity is one of two Sapient Species on the Planet of Remnant.

They are generally considered of average Intelligence with only a small Amount of Wisdom compared to other Races in the Cosmos.

Nevertheless Humans are a fairly hardy Bunch that has, so far, managed to survive pretty much everything Remnant could throw against them.

They even managed to survive each other, an Accomplishment not shared by quite a Few other advanced Human Races.

But then again, a few more Centuries of Technological Advancement and perhaps they'll lose it yet.

In any Case the History of Humanity on Remnant is one of Destruction and Creation.

Endless Ruins bear Witness to Humanity's Trials and Triumphs and of Course, all their Failures.

The Modern Society of Remnant is concentrated mostly on the Four Major Kingdoms of Atlas, Mistral, Vacuo and Vale.

But there exist quite a few smaller Settlements and an unknown Number of Nomadic Tribes, living that Way since the Beginning of History.

 _ **Advantages and Disadvantages of Humans:**_

Being a Human confers no inherent Advantages or Disadvantages.

* * *

 _ **Faunus**_

Faunus are Demi-Human Inhabitants of the World of Remnant.

Closely related to Humans Interbreeding is Freely Possible, but Culturally not very Accepted.

Their Looks are close to Baseline Humans with the Exceptions of various Animal Traits, whose Number and Kind depend on Ancestry and Purity of Breeding.

These can vary between having the Eyes of a Specific Animal, a Second Pair of Ears or a Tail, to having retractable Claws or even Tusks or Feathers.

Common to most Faunus is an Excellent Eyesight in the Dark and a better Sense of Smell and Hearing then a Baseline Human.

Though all of it can differ greatly between the Various Breeds of Faunus.

One Drawback of a Faunus Heritage that has been Discovered however is Humanity's Hatred and Envy of Faunus.

Depending on your Specific Background this can have either a very Small or a very Large Impact.

 **Advantages and Disadvantages of Faunus:**

Low-Level Light Vision

Acute Sense: (Smell) or

Acute Sense: (Hearing) or

Acute Sense: (Touch) or

Acute Sense: (Taste) or

Acute Sense: (Sight)

Lowered Likelihood of having a Rich Background.

Discriminated by the Majority (Humans)

* * *

 _ **Grimm**_

The Creatures of Grimm are the Ancient Enemy's of Humanity and all its Creations.

For as long has Mankind can remember walking the Valleys and Plains of Remnant, so too can Mankind remember fighting against the Grimm.

Upon choosing this Option you will be granted the Choice between various Races of the Grimm, or have even the option of creating your own, unique Race.

Common to all Grimm is their Black Base Color, as well as the White Boneplates on their Faces. They lack mayor Internal Organs, and only their Heads seem to play a significant Role in their Existence, for a Grimm can survive and regenerate any Wound short of Decapitation or Loss of most of its Body Mass.

They also don't need any Sustenance to survive, consuming Humans out of Malice and Spite instead of Need for Food.

One Major Drawback upon choosing the Grimm Race is that almost all Forms of Cooperation with Humans and Faunus become impossible.

 **Advantages/Disadvantages:**

Enhanced Regeneration

Enhanced Poison Resistance

Enhanced Injury Resistance

Enhanced Sickness Resistance

Enhanced Pain Resistance

Ageless Growth

Supernatural Sense (Empathy)

Acute Sense (Sight) or

Acute Sense (Smell) or

Acute Sense (Hearing) or

Acute Sense (Touch) or

Acute Sense (Taste)

(Acute Senses dependent on specific Grimm Race)

Murderous Instinct

Berserker Rage

Soul-less Monstrosity (Partially Negated by Pact of Darkness)

Hated by Humanity

* * *

"Decisions, Decisions..." A slow tapping Noise echoed from the Impact point of my Right Index finger on my Non-Existent Lips.

My Left Hand supported my Right Elbow, my Eyes stared into the Distant White of this seemingly Infinite Space only marred by the Silver Column in Front of me. My Voice was clear and androgynous.

"What should I choose?" I continued my tapping, the Sound loosing itself in the Distance.

"Human, Faunus, Grimm?" I let of a Sigh, "All the Things I read were so familiar, and yet..." Hesitation filled my Voice, the tapping stopped and Silence sneaked up on me, only to be once again banished.

"I can not seem to remember any Details, any Meaning. Just Images, Pictures and Voices." A Note of Longing then crept into my Voice, "Hopes and Dreams that seem so far away from this Nightmarish Place."

* * *

 _Images then flickered through my Mind. Pictures of terrible Beasts of Black and White, of a World in Conflict with a thin Veneer of Peace hiding the Tumor within._

 _I saw great Battles and small Skirmishes. Blood drenched Plains and Frostbitten Valleys._

 _I saw Hope and Despair gained in equal Measure. And finally I saw Four Colours, or perhaps it was four Girls, I could not seem to remember, perhaps there was no Difference in the End._

 _But I knew that those four were Important, indeed it seemed as if the whole World spun around those Four._

 _Red and White, Black and Yellow, I knew they were important, but I could not recall why, or How._

* * *

My tapping continued then, "I suppose that in the End, If I do not know what to choose, I have no other Choice but to go with Chance."

A great Desire for a Pair of Dice overcame me but having none at Hand I had to improvise.

My Decision was to close my Eyes and turn on the Spot. After some Turns I would stop and point in Front of me. Then I would open my Eyes and if my Hand pointed at the Silver Wall I would choose Human. If it was to my Right Side I would choose Grimm, and if it was to my left Side I would choose Faunus. I would repeat the Action if it should be in my Back.

I closed my Eyes and started turning on the Spot.

* * *

 **Short AN:**

 **What would your Choice be in that Place? And Why?**


	5. Choosing a Race 2

**AN: So, here we go again. This took me quite a While.**

 **To the Choice. I had originally planned to make a Faunus, (probably a Fox, because fuzzy Tails) but considering the Reviews asking for Grimm I did indeed decide to put it up to Chance, and the Dice commanded me to make a Grimm Character. And as the good little Rpgler that I am, I obeyed. Now, I might still decide to do a Second Story sometime in the Future, or some Omakes with all the possible different Choices, but for now, I will go with this.**

 **EDIT: Changed the Choice at the End slightly.**

* * *

 _If you could make One Wish, what would it be? One Wish from the Bottom of your Heart?_

 _Your Deepest, Darkest Desire, the One that you never told anyone About, the One that you are ashamed to admit._

 _What would you do if you could fulfill it, and no one would ever know but you?_

 _Would you go for it, or would you let it slip from your Grasp?_

* * *

Opening my Eyes I saw the Pillar of Silver on my Right Side.

"Hm, Grimm it is then."

Walking to the Pillar I collected my Thoughts,"I guess they are the most Powerful Choice, and in the End, Power is the only Thing that Matters." My Words lost themselves in the Emptiness, a stark Contrast to the Turmoil within.

Only a Moments Hesitation, then the Push of a slightly glowing Word.

 **Are you certain? Once a Race has been Chosen that Choice can not be changed baring extraordinary Circumstances during the Playthrough.**

 **Yes/No**

Congratulations! You have chosen the Grimm Race. As such you now get to choose between the Various Species of Grimm, both Discovered by Humans and yet Unknown. Should none of these Species fulfill your Desires we offer you the Possibility of the Creation of something entirely unique and brand New, just for You. More Information under the Option **A Brand New You**.

"Perhaps before slogging my Way through this sheer endless List of Grimm I should first check out the Rules for Creating a New Grimm Species."

 _ **A Brand New You**_

Creating a Grimm is Easy as Pie, assuming Pie was something very easy to make on your Homeworld.

There are two Ways you can create a new Grimm, you can either take another Grimm and modify it, or you can design something entirely from Scratch.

You can also decide if your new Grimm Species should change Size and Number of Spikes or Plates with Age. Alternatively all Changes can be made internal not affecting your new found Looks at all.

It is also possible to modify the Natural Grimm Advantages and Disadvantages upon creating a New Race, take Heed however that Some Traits are necessary and cannot be removed.

Concerning the Looks it is important to Note that you are merely designing the Baseform of the New Species, you can further modify your Appearance under the Looks Menu.

* * *

"Hm, that sounds certainly promising. Especially the Part about the Advantages."

I started thinking about everything my new Form should be able to do, and what I wanted to achieve and started the Process.

"It should be able to Use and Make Tools."

Some Tapping on the Screen gave a uniform Blob of Black a Pair of Arms and Legs. Some opposable Thumbs came next, then a Human-ish looking Head.

"First the Raw Stuff, then the Details."

The Skin of the Figure became a Pale, chalky White with Veins of Luminescent Red shining through the Skin, with apparently no other Option but that, or Pitch Black.

"Grimm don't seem to come in a Lot of Colours, do they? Just Pitch Black, Bone or Chalk White, and this Ominous Glowing Red."

Thinking for a few Moment I shrugged and added some Spots of Black on the otherwise Pale Skin. "Just a couple of Dots here and there, makes it a little less Boring. Like a Leopard or something."

Tapping the Silver Wall I twisted the Image in this Direction and That, shrinking the Image and blowing it up.

"Now for the Feet. Lets make it Human with some nice, sharp Claws for Climbing or So."

A few moments of Tapping made it so, and then zoomed the Picture out, showing the whole, yet unfinished Creature.

"Should add in an average Size before I forget it." A Couple of Seconds searching unveiled the Field with the Average Size Input.

"There we go. 1.7m, about Human Average. Not too small, not too tall. Just enough to hide amongst Humans, if and when I feel like it." With a Nod I focused the Image on the Hands.

"Hm, Thumbs and Fingers looking good. A few Claws, nice and sharp." After giving everything a quick Look over I concentrated on the Most Important Part, the Head.

"Lets see, The Face should be Human enough that I can pretend to be One if necessary."

There started the most Frustrating Part of the Creation Process, since the Generator refused to cooperate in Creating a Truly Human Looking Face.

* * *

After a dishearteningly long Time I gave up.

"Ok, Fine." I narrowed my Eyes and stared at the Screen. "You may win this Time, but I will get what I want eventually.

That's what I said, but in the End I had to settle for a Compromise, since the Generator would settle for nothing less.

So I ended up with a Human but more Feral, almost Bestial looking Face.

The Forehead covered in a Hornplate with one small curved Horn on each Temple and two small, straight Horns on Top of it.

The Back and the Sides of the Head were covered in Black Feathers with most of them growing straight out back, but a Few standing off wildly in all Directions.

"You may have bested me, but I will win yet." With a smaller, grumbling Voice, "I'm just choosing my Battles, that's all."

 **Do you want to set the possible Genders for this Species?**

 **Yes/No**

"I'm taking Male and Female, because I am NOT going to let you take THAT away from me."

Having said that, I modified two more Versions of the Species. One with Male Characteristics and one Female.

I had already created the Neutral One as the Template.

"Mind You, I have No Idea which Side I am going to choose yet. But I sure as Hell am not going to spend potentially Centuries or more without It."

Of course, Nobody answered Me but faint Memory's reminded me that I always worked best when Voicing my Thoughts out loud, without wondering who I might be disturbing.

"Now for the Finale. Advantages and Disadvantages."

I tapped the Options and watched a great List unfold in Front of me.

"Hm, so many Options to choose from, but so few Points. And some of those Disadvantages are quite Severe."

 **Name**

Description

Points

Advantages:

 **Acute Senses (Sight)**

+50% Noticing for Purpose of Sight

-1

 **Acute Senses (Hearing)**

+50% Noticing for Purpose of Hearing

-1

(Chosen)

 **Acute Senses (Smell)**

+50% Noticing for Purpose of Smell

-1

 **Acute Senses (Touch)**

+50% Noticing for Purpose of Touch

-1

 **Acute Senses (Taste)**

+50% Noticing for Purpose of Taste

-1

 **Low-Level Light Vision**

The Character can see in Places with only small Amounts of Light

-1

 **Supernatural Sense (Empathy)**

You gain the Ability to sense Emotions

-1

(Locked)

 **Supernatural Sense (Telepathy)**

You gain the Ability to sense Thoughts

-1

 **Supernatural Sense (Aura)**

You gain the Ability to see Aura (the Aura of Living Things and what kind of Semblances they might posses)

-1

 **Supernatural Sense (Life)**

You gain the Ability to see Life (All Living Organism and Life-energy)

-1

 **Supernatural Sense (Heat)**

You gain the Ability to perceive Heat, (not just Infrared Vision, but rather an instinctive Knowledge of Heat-exchange and Energytransfer)

-1

 **Supernatural Sense (Magnetism)**

You gain the Ability to perceive Magnetism in all its Forms.

-1

 **Transcendent Strength**

The Character has 50% more Brawns than Usual.

-1

 **Transcendent Vitality**

The Character has a 50% higher Toughness than Usual.

-1

 **Transcendent Dexterity**

The Character has 50% more Nimbleness than Usual.

-1

 **Transcendent Intelligence**

The Character has 50% more Brains than Usual.

-1

 **Transcendent Charisma**

The Character has 50% more Charms than Usual.

-1

 **Transcendent Senses**

The Character has 50% higher Noticing than Usual.

-1

 **Enhanced Resistance ( Poison)**

The Character has a Body that has a much Easier Time dealing with Poisons of all Kind. Includes Narcotics

-1

(Chosen)

 **Enhanced Resistance ( Injury)**

The Character has a Body that has a much Easier Time dealing with Injuries of all Kinds.

-1

(Chosen)

 **Enhanced Resistance**

 **( Sickness)**

The Character has a Body that has a much Easier Time dealing with Sicknesses of all Kinds.

-1

(Chosen)

 **Enhanced Resistance ( Pain)**

The Character has a Body that has a much Easier Time dealing with Pain.

-1

(Chosen)

 **Enhanced Regeneration**

The Character has a Body that has a much Easier Time healing from Injuries

-1

(Chosen)

 **Prodigy**

The Character has a much easier Time picking up new Skills and Knowledge and gains a Bonus of 50% to all Experience gains for the Purpose of Training Skills

-1

 **Ageless Growth**

The Body of the Character does not grow Old, it only grows stronger. In the Case of Grimm this often also means an Increase in Size.

+1 for every Stat in Body and Mind for every Year the Character lived.

-1

(Locked)

 **Serpentine Body**

The Body of the Character is unusually Flexible, able to contort in Ways that should be impossible for any Being with Bones and Joints.

-1

 **Hardened Bone Plates**

The Body of the Character possesses unusually Hard Bone Plates, raising his Defense against all Kinds of Attacks. Precise Bonus depending on Coverage.

-1

 **Disadvantages:**

 **Allergic (Major)**

The Character has a Major Allergy against a Specific Substance or a Medium Allergy against several Substances

1

 **Reduced Senses (Sight)**

The Character has -50% Noticing for Purpose of Sight

1

 **Reduced Senses (Smell)**

The Character has -50% Noticing for Purpose of Smell

1

 **Reduced Senses (Touch)**

The Character has -50% Noticing for Purpose of Touch

1

 **Reduced Senses (Hearing)**

The Character has -50% Noticing for Purpose of Hearing

1

 **Reduced Senses (Taste)**

The Character has -50% Noticing for Purpose of Taste

1

 **Night-Blindness**

The Character can not see in Places with only Small Amounts of Light

1

 **Reduced Aura Regeneration**

The Character has an Aura that regenerates 50% slower then Usual

1

 **Reduced Aura Defense**

The Character has an Aura that defends 50% less against Damage then Usual

1

 **Abysmal Aura**

The Character has an Aura that is 50% weaker than Usual

1

 **Abysmal Strength**

The Character has 50% less Brawns than Usual

1

 **Abysmal Vitality**

The Character has 50% less Toughness than Usual

1

 **Abysmal Dexterity**

The Character has 50% less Nimbleness than Usual

1

 **Abysmal Intelligence**

The Character has 50% less Brains than Usual

1

 **Abysmal Charisma**

The Character has 50% less Charms than Usual

1

 **Abysmal Senses**

The Character has 50% less Noticing than Usual

1

 **Reduced Resistance (Poison )**

The Character has a 50% Reduced Resistance against Poisons

1

 **Reduced Resistance ( Injury)**

The Character has a 50% Reduced Resistance against Injury's

1

 **Reduced Resistance ( Sickness)**

The Character has a 50% Reduced Resistance against Sickness

1

 **Reduced Resistance ( Pain)**

The Character has a 50% Reduced Resistance against Pain

1

 **Reduced Regeneration**

The Body of the Character has a much harder Time healing from Injury's

1

 **Murderous Instinct**

The Character has an Inborn Instinct to kill. This is locked for Grimm.

If chosen in Conjunction with Gamers Will, partially negated and worth only 1p.

2/1

(Locked)

 **Berserker Rage**

The Character tends to loose all Control in Combat. He fights with much greater Strength then Usual, but also much less Restrictions.

If chosen in Conjunction with Gamers Will, partially negated and worth only 1p.

2/1

(Chosen)

 **Possession**

The Character has been possessed by a Minor Monstrosity from the Outer Darkness. It will cause Blackouts and Sleepmurdering.

If chosen in Conjunction with Gamers Will, partially negated and worth only 1p.

2/1

 **Soul-less Monstrosity**

The Character has no Soul and thus no Aura-based Abilities. This is locked for Grimm.

(Should the Character be in Possession of Pact of Darkness this is negated)

2

(Locked)

 **Amateur**

The Character has a much harder Time picking up new Skills and Knowledge. All Experience gain for the Purpose of Training Skills is reduced by 50%

1

 **Hated by Humanity**

The Character is hated by Humanity and is attacked on Sight. This is locked for Grimm and not available for Humans or Faunus.

2

(Locked)

* * *

In the End I chose the Advantages and Disadvantages that I thought I could use best.

 **Advantages:**

Enhanced Injury Resistance

-1

Enhanced Pain Resistance

-1

Enhanced Regeneration

-1

Supernatural Sense (Empathy)

-1 (Locked)

Ageless Growth

-1 (Locked)

Transcendent Intelligence

-1

Transcendent Vitality

-1

 **Disadvantages:**

Reduced Senses (Taste)

+1

Murderous Instinct

+2 (Locked)

Soulless Monstrosity

+2 (Locked)

Hated By Humanity

+2 (Locked)

* * *

 **AN: If you agree or disagree or have Ideas that you think are better, feel free to tell me in a Review. I am also open for more Ideas for Advantages and Disadvantages.**


	6. Three Choices

**AN: So, here we go with the next Chapter. Not much to say except that I hope you enjoy it, and that I hope portray the Character (aka the Player), at least somewhat interesting and convincing.**

* * *

 _We are who we make ourselves to be. Every Day we are someone Else than the Day before. And yet the Person, the Conscience remains. What is than the Meaning of Self? Is it in the Looks? The Memory's? Is it the Choices that we made, or the Deeds done?_

 _If you forget your Past, and behave completely different from before, are you even still the Same Person, or are you someone else?_

 _Some may say that the Soul is the One Defining Aspect of the Self. An Aspect that remains, even if the Life ends._

 _Some may say that Life and Memory are transient, ephemeral, and the Questions for their Nature ultimately Meaningless, serving no Purpose in a Harsh and Cruel World, that leaves no Space for Introspection._

 _In the End I guess, everyone has to find an Answer for themselves. And I guess even I found one, at The End._

* * *

 **Are you certain of your Choices?**

Once completed the Process can not be repeated. Upon Completion a Name and Background for the Race will be automatically generated and added to the Grimm Species List. From there the Player can then choose his Customized Race.

 **Continue?**

 **Yes/No**

"No Purpose in Waiting any longer." I pressed Yes and in a Swirl of Light the Words vanished and rearranged themselves.

 **Name: Nahual (spoken [na'wal] )**

 **Looks:**

Bipedal Humoid, with a fairly small average size with about 1,70. Thin Arms and Legs make for a Runner or Swimmer Build.

They have Five Fingers and Five Toes on each Hand, respectivly Foot.

They come in Male and Female but are infertile. (in Case you get any Ideas...)

Their Skin is a Pale, Chalky White with some Veins of their glowing Red Grimm Blood observable through their Skin.

They are also covered in a Multitude of Black Spots much like a Leopard.

Their Bodys show little of the normal Grimm Bonecoverings.

On their Face merely a Hornplate with one small curved Horn on each Temple and two small straight Horns on Top of their Head. The Head itself is covered in Grimm-Black Feathers reminiscent of Nevermores.

Their Faces are also Humanoid, but more Feral, more Bestial on average.

They posses scharp Claws and Fangs to tear into their Prey, but like all Grimm they do not need Sustenance to survive.

One Curiosity is their reduced Sense of Taste compared to the average Human however they also do not Suffer from the Berserker Rage of the other Grimm and are capable of astounding Amounts of Cunning, even the very Young. They are also amongst the more Resilient of the Beasts of Grimm.

The Older a Nahual Gets, the thicker and longer the Feathers on his Head and Neck become, until they covers its Back like a Cloak. The Feathers also become harder, much like those of the Nevermore. In Time the Nahual will grow Bone coverings on his Joints, but never so many that it would hinder their Quick Movements.

 **Advantages:**

Enhanced Injury Resistance

Enhanced Pain Resistance

Enhanced Regeneration

Supernatural Sense (Empathy)

Ageless Growth

Transcendent Intelligence

Transcendent Vitality

 **Disadvantages:**

Reduced Senses (Taste)

Murderous Instinct

Soulless Monstrosity

Hated By Humanity

 **Nahual added to the Grimm Compendium. It can now be chosen as a Race.**

After the more or less successful Creation of my Customized Grimm Race I spent some Time just looking at the Various Pictures and Descriptions of Named and Unnamed Grimm Species before finally choosing Nahual as my Race.

 **Are you certain? Once chosen the Race of the Player can not be changed during the Playthrough baring extraordinary circumstances.**

 **Yes/No**

"Yes. Get On with it. I have already spent more than enough Time on you."

 **Nahual has been chosen as Player Race.**

After that Message the Glowing Characters disappeared and a Familiar Menu showed itself to my Eyes.

 ** _Gender_**

 _Looks_

 _Advantages & Disadvantages_

 _Basic Attributes_

 _Background_

 _Name_

 _Start Game_

Once again all Options but the First were greyed out and unavailable.

 _ **Gender:**_

Available Gender for the Chosen Character Race:

 **Male/Female** *

In small Script beneath that.

*Should the Player need an Explanation about the Difference between Genders he should contact our Expert on "Procreation of the Species" under 1-0-800-NOTTHETENTACLES **

In familiarly small and almost unreadable Size beneath that, **" " takes no responsibility for the Loss of Innocence and/or Sanity from contacting our Procreation Hotline.

* * *

I stood there then. Thinking about the Choice, and what it would mean for me.

I stood there and tried to remember in Vain what I used to be.

But it was useless, whatever I once had been, had been robbed from me. And so in the End, I thought about using the same Method I had used for my Race.

My androgynous Puppet-body with no Sign of Gender stared back at me from the Silver Surface of the Wall, seemingly mocking my Approach to the Question.

"Oh? What are you staring at?" I slowly closed in on my Mirror Image, one Finger pointed at it.

"You staring at me?" Pushing my Forehead against the Pillar I said then with a softer Voice, "Are you looking at me? Is that me I am seeing?"

I closed my Eyes and let of a deep Sigh.

"I am currently choosing my Gender, and I just got finished with creating a Custom Race for myself."

I took a Step back and opened my Eyes again. "Does the Question of Who I am, even have any Meaning anymore?"

Closing my Eyes again I took a deep Breath, once again ignoring the Question of how I was even breathing in the First Place.

"We are who we make ourselves to be. I am the Entirety of Myself. No matter who I might become. I am always Me." I shook my Head and opened my Eyes once more.

"Even if the process of choosing who to be is a lot more literal in this Case. In the End, I am who I choose to become."

I took some Time than to gather my Thoughts, standing in Front of that Mirror Wall, staring at that Puppet-body of mine.

"Enough Woolgathering." With a deep breath I closed my Eyes and started turning on the Spot.

 _I will close my Eyes and turn around a few Times._

 _I will then Stop and point forward._

 _If the Wall is in Front of me I will choose Female, and if it is in my Back I will choose Male._

For some Reason that Choice made me so much more nervous than the Choice of my Race, though I could really not say Why. Perhaps the Reason for that had been buried beneath the Haze like so many other Things of my Past.

* * *

Round and Round I turned. A Hazy Past fluttering by like a Merry-go-Round before my Inner Eye. I turned and turned, somehow afraid of Stopping, as if this Choice had so much more Weight, was so much more real than the Choice of before.

Creating a Race and choosing and weighing Points had been like a Game, a Transient Merriment reminiscent of the Past. Managing to push back the Existential Dread of my Situation for too short a Time.

But this Choice was far too real, far too close. And the Memory's that had been stolen from me, the Tears and Holes where Parts of my Past used to be, tortured me relentlessly with their Absence.

I turned and turned and lost myself in the Motion. My whole World reduced to the fleeting, faint Motion of an Inhuman Body and the Sounds of Countless Voices in my Head. Voices of the Past, Songs and Music and Conversations that I once heard but could not quite remember.

Finally I hit the Ground.

I laid there for what felt like an Eternity, face down on the Floor. What Thoughts did I have at that Time, what Memory's did I live through? I can not remember anymore, but I remember looking up at that Silver Pillar and feeling both Despair and Elation at the Same Time.

Not much went through my Mind as I slowly closed on the Pillar, one Hand outstretched towards it.

My Conscience had been bled dry lying on the Floor, all Thoughts for now spent. Only Action remained.

 **Are you certain? This Choice can not be changed baring Extraordinary Circumstances during the Playthrough.**

 **Yes/No**

* * *

Once the Choice was made I saw a Familiar Menu, with ever fewer Options remaining.

 ** _Looks_**

 _Advantages & Disadvantages_

 _Basic Attributes_

 _Background_

 _Name_

 _Start Game_

I pushed the slightly glowing Word and continued on to the Looks Menu.

 **Chosen Race: Grimm (Nahual)**

 **Chosen Gender: Female**

On the Mirror Surface I saw an Image of a Pale Woman, Skin slightly translucent with Veins of Luminescent Red glowing through the Surface.

On her Body Spots of Pitch-black Color, arranged along the Legs and the Arms flowing from the Tips towards the Sternum where they met, steadily increasing in Size along the Way, beginning at Pinpricke and growing into Thumbnail sized Spots of almost Light-absorbing Darkness.

At the Center they formed into a Spiral shot through with White and Red, seeming like a Distant Galaxy, as seen from beyond the Known Universe. Every Breath the animated Image made let the Spiral seemingly rotate and move, creating an Feeling of Infinite Distance and Expanse.

Her Face was alien, but beautiful in its own Way. On her Forehead a Sturdy looking Horn-plate, looking somewhat out of Place on her delicate Features, and yet still fitting in with her almost Bestial countenance in the Setting of her Jaw and Eyes.

Around the two small curved Horns at her Temple, Red Spirals one a Mirror of the Other.

From her Head hung Black Feathers straight down to her Shoulders. The only Interruption of the Darkness were some Blood-red Quills, longer and somehow sharper in Form, standing off from the Pitch-black of her Head.

I stood there and watched the Picture move. Taking it in, and trying to get used to the Thought of looking like that for the Rest of my Life, however long that might be.

After a While I started changing the Picture in a few Details, and having a closer Look at others.

A Missing Pair of Eyebrows was added, the Familiar Blue and Yellow Eyes looking too Inhuman on that Face without them.

But with them one could almost see the Emotions in that Face, expressive as it was in its Strangeness.

One Option then drew my Attention.

 **Supressed/No Aura**

I pressed the Word and saw the Color bleeding out of the Eyes, leaving Pitch-black Darkness where the White used to be, and an all too familiar Glowing Red for the Pupil and Iris.

That Changed the Expression the Face made in an Instant. Instead of a Feral but still recognizably Intelligent, Sapient Face, I now looked into the Face of a Monster. A Monstrosity that seemed to radiate a Hatred against Mankind and all its Creations.

I decided to stare into that Face for a Long Time. For this was what I had to beware. This was what I should not become.

Or at least I told myself so at the Time.

 **Aura**

Pressing that Option the Colors returned to the Eyes on the Image, leaving me towards one Last Check.

One last Time to make sure that I could live with that look for the Rest of my Time.

* * *

 **Are you certain of your Choice? Your Looks can only be changed by undertaking extensive Surgeries or the acquisition of specific and very Rare Abilities during your Playthrough.**

 **Yes/No**

Remembering the Warning in the Tutorial I braced myself and tried to prepare for the Pain that was undoubtedly to come.

It first started with a Feeling of Needles, crawling along my Veins from my Feet and Hands towards my Spine and from there to my Heart and Head.

As the Needles had passed they left a Cold Fire in their Wake that burned and froze at the same Time.

Once that Fire reached my Back, it went from there through all my Bones and Ligaments, numbing and torching me from the Inside.

When it had blistered and scorched and chilled all it could, that's when the Pain started.

As I lay convulsing on the Ground, the Fire having robbed me of all Control of my Limbs I could see myself changing, my milky white, seemingly wooden Puppet-body breaking like the Icy Surface of a Lake in Spring, the small fragments falling into the Darkness unveiled below.

From beneath the Cracks appeared in Drips and Drops, pure radiant Blood, like Ruby's so Red.

The Rips then widened further and further, swallowing more and more of myself, leaving Inky Black and sheer unbearably Agony in their Wake.

I could feel my Soul ripping out of its Container and being changed to fit the new Confinements. The process taking mere Moments, but the Memory's haunt me still.

As the Puppet-body had been devoured completely by Darkness, being nothing more than an Outline, a Hole in the World, the Process reversed itself.

Cracks and Breaks of White appeared on the Light swallowing Surface, and a Feeling of Ice so cold it Burned filled my newly created Veins, my first Heartbeat filling my Head with an Echo like the Sound of Far away Drums.

The Darkness left, leaving its Traces forever on my Soul, Mind and Body.

* * *

In Remembrance, the Thing that scared me most, was not my New Body, but rather how comfortable I was with it.

There was no feeling of Strangeness, of Alieness in my Movements. No Stumbling, no awkward Motions, I felt like I had always lived in that Body, and that scared me more than anything else.

When I looked upon the Silver Surface of the Pillar and saw myself in the Mirror there was no Feeling of dissociation, it was not a Stranger that looked back at Me, but merely myself.

In Fact when I started to look back in my Memory's, I could not remember having ever looked any different. I remembered having been in a Different Body, a few Minutes before, I remembered the Fact that I was in a Puppet Body, and I remembered the Facts of what it looked like, and I could remember the Transformation, but when I tried to remember the Puppet-body, all I could see in my Memory's was the Face the Mirror showed me now.

And it was that Way even with the Memory's that had been hidden by the Haze of Agony by the Black Room.

Whoever I had been before, all the Holes and Tears in my Memory that had swallowed my Identity had now been filled with this Face.

It felt like I had always been this Way. And that Terrified me more than Words could truly express.

The Facts of my Old Life, my Knowledge that I did not used to look like this, and the Bone Deep Instinct that comes from a Lifetime of looking at Once own Face and KNOWING that it belongs to one self clashed with each Other, in a Way that left my waking Mind in Shambles and brooked no other Choice but to flee into the Embrace of Morpheus.

I stared at my Mirror Image, with Tears streaming down my Face as my Mind slowly crumbled and welcomed the Darkness of Sleep.

* * *

 **AN:So, that was that. As always read and review. See you nex Time.**


	7. Character Generation Sucessful

**AN: So, here we go again, the last chapter of the Character generation. After this its on to the Game. So far, thanks to everyone who reviewed and asked questions, also to the people who favorited and followed my story, it means a lot to me.**

* * *

 _Who are we then, at that point of decision, that point where everything changes?_

 _That point where our life's can turn around, or become destined to run along the same Road for the rest of our miserable existence?_

 _If we are one person before that moment, and a different one after we made that choice, who are we then at that exact moment?_

 _Are we simply a transient thing, a mixture of past and future colliding in that one momentous moment, where destiny and fate can change by simple choice?_

 _Or are we something more, something less?_

 _These moments of true choice come around so very rarely, most people only ever get them twice._

* * *

My Body laid out on the floor, my consciousness lost in troubled Dreams.

 _I am falling, fading into the -Darkness that Devours- me._

 _My life is eaten away until there is nothing left but empty spaces where memory's used to be._

 _My body is breaking apart into sparks of light that glimmer in the darkness of this infinite space, only to be swallowed with a wet, gulping noise like screeching nails on a chalkboard._

 _My ears have stopped existing as a physical object, my body fully disintegrated and yet I cant stop hearing a grating sound, utterly extrinsic to human nature._

 _So incomprehensible and alien that my spirit and will are crushed under its sheer existence._

 _Slowly, so very slowly the sound reduces its nature to something the human mind can comprehend without destroying itself._

 _It resolves itself into a familiar voice, "oh, I'm sorry about that. I always forget just how fragile human souls are. So easy to shatter and break into pieces."_

 _The concept of self had ceased to be, only a vague recollection of memory's bound to a rapidly fragmenting energy matrix that was once a human soul._

 _Still though, there was some will left, some spark of endurance and human desire that shaped itself into something approximating a voice, "Need. Wish. Power. Fear."_

" _Oh, I have not forgotten our agreement." Incomprehensible Noise, screeching and whirring in the darkness, "After all we have an accord, I gain your body, and you gain your dearest wish."_

 _A chuckle than, a comprehensible noise, if still alien and reprehensible in its contemptuousness._

" _Oh, and this is going to hurt. A lot."_

 _The -Darkness that had devoured me- faded away, leaving the agony of the Black Room in its wake._

 _My dreams then changed to other days, of a life gone by, before the Black Room shattered me._

 _My first schooldays, black feathers standing starkly against white skin, my picture seemingly out of place amongst all the human children._

 _Times spend with friends whose faces I can only barely recall, accidents with bikes, glowing red blood spilled on the ground._

 _My mother, a distant presence so different in Looks to me, and yet I never wondered why I looked so peculiar compared to the rest of my family._

 _A barely known father whose presence graced me twice every year, and yet he was human, when than did I look like I did? All feathers and bright red blood and horns and claws and sharp fangs?_

* * *

As I awoke my body was surprisingly pain free, but the same could not be said for my mind. The conflict between my memory's and remembered past and what I knew to be true still raged strongly.

And yet, the truth was slowly losing, for while I knew that I had not always looked like this, the memory's of my past Life told me differently. And if I could not trust my memory's, what could I trust then?

"The answer to the question of who I am is simply whoever I decide to be." My voice rang out high and clear, familiar and yet it was like I heard it for the first time.

Sitting on the glowing white floor I stared at my hands, "the question is then, who do I want to be?"

I pondered that questions for some time, coming to the conclusion that if I could not trust my memory's of the past, that I would simply have to make new experiences in a different place, and use them to decide what kind of person I was and would like to be.

Slowly standing up I stretched intimately known muscles, knowing at the same time that my form had been an entirely different one before my arrival.

Staring at the Pillar I saw usual options in front of me.

 _ **Advantages & Disadvantages**_

 _ **Basic Attributes**_

 _ **Background**_

 _ **Name**_

 _ **Start Game**_

As always every option but the first had been grayed out, leaving only one thing left to do.

 **Advantages & Disadvantages:**

Choose wisely, for advantages can be neither gained nor lost baring extraordinary circumstances during your playthrough.

Your available number of points for advantages is: 1

All advantages and disadvantages that have been gained through the choice of race are marked as locked and can not be chosen again. Exceptions are advantages and disadvantages that can be chosen several times.

 **Advantages:**

 **Acute Senses (Hearing)**

+50% Noticing for Purpose of Hearing

-1

 **Acute Senses (Sight)**

+50% Noticing for Purpose of Sight

-1

 **Acute Senses (Smell)**

+50% Noticing for Purpose of Smell

-1

 **Acute Senses (Taste)**

+50% Noticing for Purpose of Taste

-1

 **Acute Senses (Touch)**

+50% Noticing for Purpose of Touch

-1

 **Ageless Growth**

The Body of the Character does not grow Old, it only grows stronger. In the Case of Grimm this often also means an Increase in Size.

+1 for every Stat in Body and Mind for every Year the Character lived.

-1 (locked)

 **Body of the Gamer**

The Character has a Body that acts like a Video Game Character. He loses his Need for Sustenance and Sleep. He also heals faster by Sleeping and consuming various Foods. He also gains the Ability to heal completely from any Non-Fatal Wound or Injury.

-1

 **Enhanced Aura Defense**

The Aura of the Character is 50% better at defending against Damage then Usual

-1

 **Enhanced Aura Regeneration**

The Character has an Aura that regenerates 50% quicker then Usual

-1

 **Enhanced Regeneration**

The Character has a Body that has a much Easier Time healing from Injuries

-1 (locked)

 **Enhanced Resistance**

 **(Sickness)**

The Character has a Body that has a much Easier Time dealing with Sicknesses of all Kinds.

-1

 **Enhanced Resistance (Injury)**

The Character has a Body that has a much Easier Time dealing with Injuries of all Kinds.

-1 (locked)

 **Enhanced Resistance (Pain)**

The Character has a Body that has a much Easier Time dealing with Pain.

-1 (locked)

 **Enhanced Resistance (Poison)**

The Character has a Body that has a much Easier Time dealing with Poisons of all Kind. Includes Narcotics

-1

 **Hardened Bone Plates**

The Body of the Character possesses unusually Hard Bone Plates, raising his Defense against all Kinds of Attacks. Precise Bonus depending on Coverage.

-1

 **Low-Level Light Vision**

The Character can see in Places with only small Amounts of Light

-1

 **Prodigy**

The Character has a much easier Time picking up new Skills and Knowledge and gains a Bonus of 50% to all Experience gains for the Purpose of Training Skills

-1

 **Serpentine Body**

The Body of the Character is unusually Flexible, able to contort in Ways that should be impossible for any Being with Bones and Joints.

-1

 **Supernatural Sense (Aura)**

You gain the Ability to see Aura (the Aura of Living Things and what kind of Semblances they might posses)

-1

 **Supernatural Sense (Empathy)**

You gain the Ability to sense Emotions

-1 (locked)

 **Supernatural Sense (Heat)**

You gain the Ability to perceive Heat, (not just Infrared Vision, but rather an instinctive Knowledge of Heat-exchange and Energytransfer)

-1

 **Supernatural Sense (Life)**

You gain the Ability to see Life (All Living Organism and Life-energy)

-1

 **Supernatural Sense (Magnetism)**

You gain the Ability to perceive Magnetism in all its Forms.

-1

 **Supernatural Sense (Telepathy)**

You gain the Ability to sense Thoughts

-1

 **Transcendent Aura**

The Character has a 50% Stronger Aura than Usual.

-1

 **Transcendent Charisma**

The Character has 50% more Charms than Usual.

-1

 **Transcendent Dexterity**

The Character has 50% more Nimbleness than Usual.

-1

 **Transcendent Intelligence**

The Character has 50% more Brains than Usual.

-1 (locked)

 **Transcendent Senses**

The Character has 50% higher Noticing than Usual.

-1

 **Transcendent Strength**

The Character has 50% more Brawns than Usual.

-1

 **Transcendent Vitality**

The Character has a 50% higher Toughness than Usual.

-1 (locked)

 **Wealthy Background**

The Background of the Character is richer, with more Influence and Dust Availability. Higher Security against Grimm and Criminal Elements of Society. Can be chosen up to 4 Times. Each Time giving a Higher and Higher Background. Not available for Grimm.

-1

 **Will of the Gamer**

The Character has an unshakable Will that can never be broken. He is Immune against all Mental Influence. Other Influences on his Actions are strongly reduced in Effectiveness.

-1

 **Disadvantages:**

 **Abysmal Aura**

The Character has an Aura that is 50% weaker than Usual

1

 **Abysmal Charisma**

The Character has 50% less Charms than Usual

1

 **Abysmal Dexterity**

The Character has 50% less Nimbleness than Usual

1

 **Abysmal Intelligence**

The Character has 50% less Brains than Usual

1

 **Abysmal Senses**

The Character has 50% less Noticing than Usual

1

 **Abysmal Strength**

The Character has 50% less Brawns than Usual

1

 **Abysmal Vitality**

The Character has 50% less Toughness than Usual

1

 **Allergic (Major)**

The Character has a Major Allergy against a Specific Substance or a Medium Allergy against several Substances

1

 **Amateur**

The Character has a much harder Time picking up new Skills and Knowledge. All Experience gain for the Purpose of Training Skills is reduced by 50%

1

 **Berserker Rage**

The Character tends to loose all Control in Combat. He fights with much greater Strength then Usual, but also much less Restrictions.

If chosen in Conjunction with Gamers Will, partially negated and worth only 1p.

2/1

 **Discriminated by the Majority**

The Character belongs to a Minority that is being discriminated by the Majority of the Culture he belongs to. This is locked for Faunus and not available for Humans.

1

 **Easily Addicted**

The Character is easily addicted to Substances or Actions that provide a "High". He is 50% faster addicted, and the Addictions are 50% stronger.

1

 **Hated by Humanity**

The Character is hated by Humanity and is attacked on Sight. This is locked for Grimm and not available for Humans or Faunus.

2 (locked)

 **Murderous Instinct**

The Character has an Inborn Instinct to kill. This is locked for Grimm.

If chosen in Conjunction with Gamers Will, partially negated and worth only 1p.

2/1

(locked)

 **Night-Blindness**

The Character can not see in Places with only Small Amounts of Light

1

 **Pact of Darkness**

A Curse born from the Darkness of the Soul. This Disadvantage is automatically acquired upon starting a New Game.

It acts as a distinct Disadvantage when the Player chooses either Human or Faunus as a Race since it attracts the Grimm in great Number where ever the Character may be.

It also reduced his Luck to 0 and locks the Stat so that it can not be raised by either Training or Level-Up Points. This Curse can be lost under certain Circumstances during the Game.

If the Player chooses Grimm as a Race its negative Effects are partially negated.

(Locked)

 **Poor Background**

The Background of the Character is Poorer, with Less Influence and Dust Availability. Lower Security against Grimm and Criminal Elements. Can be chosen up to four Times. Not Available for Grimm.

1

 **Possession**

The Character has been possessed by a Minor Monstrosity from the Outer Darkness. It will cause Blackouts and Sleepmurdering.

If chosen in Conjunction with Gamers Will, partially negated and worth only 1p.

2/1

 **Reduced Aura Defense**

The Character has an Aura that defends 50% less against Damage then Usual

1

 **Reduced Aura Regeneration**

The Character has an Aura that regenerates 50% slower then Usual

1

 **Reduced Regeneration**

The Body of the Character has a much harder Time healing from Injury's

1

 **Reduced Resistance ( Injury)**

The Character has a 50% Reduced Resistance against Injury's

1

 **Reduced Resistance (Pain)**

The Character has a 50% Reduced Resistance against Pain

1

 **Reduced Resistance (Poison )**

The Character has a 50% Reduced Resistance against Poisons

1

 **Reduced Resistance (Sickness)**

The Character has a 50% Reduced Resistance against Sickness

1

 **Reduced Senses (Hearing)**

The Character has -50% Noticing for Purpose of Hearing

1

 **Reduced Senses (Sight)**

The Character has -50% Noticing for Purpose of Sight

1

 **Reduced Senses (Smell)**

The Character has -50% Noticing for Purpose of Smell

1

 **Reduced Senses (Taste)**

The Character has -50% Noticing for Purpose of Taste

1 (locked)

 **Reduced Senses (Touch)**

The Character has -50% Noticing for Purpose of Touch

1

 **Soul-less Monstrosity**

The Character has no Soul and thus no Aura-based Abilities. This is locked for Grimm.

This is negated by Pact of Darkness and thus worth no Points.

0 (locked)

* * *

"Well the choice is obvious. **Will of the Gamer** and **Body of the Gamer** are a must-have. But what should I take as a disadvantage for that second point? And there are so many other nice looking advantages that I would like to have."

I slowly started walking in circles in front of the Pillar, considering my options.

"I could take something like **Reduced Resistance (Sickness)** or perhaps **Easily Addicted**? In that case I should not consume any drugs, but that shouldn't be too bad. Its not like I had planned on doing that anyway."

I suddenly stopped, having thought of something and walked to the Pillar, touching one specific Option.

 **Allergy (Major): Please choose a Substance you are allergic against:**

"Hah, I knew you got to choose. Now lets see if there is anything that is easy to avoid."

(Sunlight)

(Purity)

(Happiness)

(Innocence)

…

The list continued like that for a while.

"How in the hells is happiness a quantifiable substance to be allergic against?" I shook my head, "or for that matter, how is love, or kindness or any emotion for that matter?"

"Well, here's hoping there is something useful in that list."

I continued reading the list, muttering to myself all the while about the various possible choices.

"Hm, how about fear? I mean, I AM pretty awesome, and with **Will of the Gamer** I should be pretty good on that front... On second thought, nowhere does it say that its about my emotions. And a Grimm that's allergic against the fear of humans sounds, while hilarious, not like a good idea if I am the Grimm."

"How about ennui? I mean, I am going to be doing stuff all the time, and being allergic against ennui would probably be super helpful in avoiding laziness... I guess."

I thought about it for a time.

"Though I could forget about being a teacher with that. On the other hand, it would probably inspire me to be the -Best Teacher Ever-."

"Oh great. Apparently I can also be allergic against Capital D Dust, water, heat, cold, electricity, bullets oh, and lead."

Shaking my head in disbelieve I continued reading the list. "Hm, now we are getting to actions and deeds. Apparently I can be allergic against ass-kicking, ass-kissing and hugs... Is any of this supposed to make sense, or is this just more of this madness inducing insanity like the rest of this place?"

"Ok, now I know you are screwing with me. Allergic against PEACE? I mean really? What does that even mean? Are we talking the concept of peace, or peaceful situations, or what?"

After having said that out lout a small screen formed to the side of the Pillar.

 **In case of Questions, contact your Administrator -Devouring Darkness- under 1-0-800-EATYOURSOUL.***

Below that a picture of an old fashioned rotary phone.

At the bottom of the screen in almost invisible small script.

*" " is not responsible for any loss of soul and/or sanity resulting of a contact with the administrator -Devouring Darkness-.

"Yeah, thanks but no thanks. I am not that desperate. Maybe later." Upon verbally disagreeing the screen vanished back into the Pillar leaving no trace of its existence.

"I don't think I am going to take an allergy. There are just too many ways that could go wrong."

Tapping the screen I rolled the options up until I reached a specific one.

"I could take **Reduced Resistance (Pain)** , since I get the advantage version of it through Grimm, they should simply cancel each other out. Of course if I had known that I would not take it, I would have left **Reduced Senses (Taste)** away, but Hindsight and all that."

Crossing my arms in front of my chest I started tapping my right foot on the ground.

"None of those Things feel quite right." I stopped tapping on the ground and tilted my head to one side.

"Although, **Reduced Senses (Smell)** does not sound too bad. Same as with taste I guess. I mean I am going to hear something approaching me before I can smell it. And If I have to follow something, well..." I scratched an itchy spot beneath my feathers in a way that I must have done a thousand times over my Life, and yet felt new and strange in a way that had become only too familiar over the last few Hours.

"I guess I can always go with smell or maybe have a tracking ability or something?"

I nodded and marked the disadvantage as chosen. "It certainly seems the least terrible choice. But with the way things have been going, I am sure this is going to bite me in the ass sooner or later."

 **Reduced Senses (Smell)**

The Character has -50% Noticing for Purpose of Smell

1 (chosen)

Available points for advantages: 2

Scrolling back to the advantages I choose the two most importand ones on the List.

 **Body of the Gamer**

The Character has a Body that acts like a Video Game Character. He loses his Need for Sustenance and Sleep. He also heals faster by Sleeping and consuming various Foods. He also gains the Ability to heal completely from any Non-Fatal Wound or Injury.

-1 (chosen)

 **Will of the Gamer**

The Character has an unshakable Will that can never be broken. He is Immune against all Mental Influence. Other Influences on his Actions are strongly reduced in Effectiveness.

-1 (chosen)

Available Points for advantages: 0

"So, the Question is now, do I want more, and am I willing to choose more disadvantages to get more?"

Slowly walking in circles around the Pillar I mumbled to myself, "on one hand another advantage could save my butt, but on the other hand, one more disadvantage could also really bite me in the behind."

"I guess I dont really want to risk more."

 **Are you certain? Once chosen Advantages and Disadvantages cannot be gained or lost during your Playthrough baring extraordinary circumstances.**

 **Yes/No**

* * *

Having completed my choices something else now waited for me.

 _ **Basic Attributes**_

 _ **Background**_

 _ **Name**_

 _ **Start Game**_

As always the available options had been reduced by one.

 _ **Basic Attributes**_

You may choose to modify your basic stats by either adding or subtracting points by pressing the plus or minus sign. The minimum starting amount for any stat is 1.

 _ **Body:**_

Brawns 10 +/-

Toughness 10 +/-

Nimbleness 10 +/-

 _ **Mind:**_

Brains 10 +/-

Charms 10 +/-

Noticing 10 +/-

 **Soul:**

Aura 10 +/-

Luck 00 (L)

Netherness 00 (L)

Available points: 05

"Hm, what should I put my points on?" Playing around with the system I noticed that I gained available points if I lowered any stat, and lost points if I raised one. I also noticed that I could not raise luck, no matter how much I might want to.

"My first Instinct would be to lower Charms and Brawns and put everything into Toughness and Nimbleness, So I can better run away and survive. Brawns should also be pretty easy to train, some weight should do it. On the other hand, I don't know where or when exactly I will end up at on Remnant." Lost in thought I started walking up and down in front of the Mirror.

"Of course knowing this system, it does not matter what I will pick, I will get send somewhere, where what I picked is completely useless."

My rant slowly picked up steam and I got louder and louder, "like, I pick a combat oriented build and land in a situation where it would have been really good to have put points in Charisma."

At this point I started wildly gesticulating while stomping my feet up and down in front of the Pillar.

"Or, or, I make a Charisma and Brain heavy build and land in the middle of a jungle filled with Grimm that want to snack on me because I have a soul or something."

I sat down with a heavy sigh, folding my legs under me. My elbows rested on my knees while my chin laid on my hands.

"I am starting to really dislike not knowing anything about way too many things."

After I said that a small screen started to raise out of the ground in front of me.

"And no, that does not mean I want to talk to my administrator."

The screen sank slowly into the ground, my imagination providing an almost disappointed sounding Sigh coming from it.

"Yeah, right," a bitter Chuckle wound its Way from between my Lips. "Like I would risk talking to that Thing again."

Shaking my head to get rid of unnecessary thoughts I got up and shook out my limbs and stretched, luxuriating in the feeling of muscles and joints, skin and bones all new and yet comfortable.

It felt good to be in my skin, nothing felt out of place, no pain apart from the ever present memory of the Black Room at the back of my mind.

 _I guess not everything is bad about the deal. Some things in fact are pretty cool. I mean, getting to choose precisely what you are going to be able to do is pretty nifty._

"Well, no time like the present."

I turned to the Pillar and started to allocate my points.

"Now, the way I figure it, I get a bonus of 50% on Brains and Toughness, that means that I get an effective starting amount of 12 each if I put them on 8. And Brawns should be the easiest to train, just a couple of weights and I'm good."

 _ **Body:**_

Brawns 08 +/-

Toughness 08 +/-

Nimbleness 10 +/-

 _ **Mind:**_

Brains 08 +/-

Charms 10 +/-

Noticing 10 +/-

 **Soul:**

Aura 10 +/-

Luck 00 (L)

Netherness 00 (L)

Available points: 11

"Now, I put some points on Charms so I can talk my way out of problems and so maybe people don't attack me on sight, some points on Nimbleness and Noticing so I have an easier time sneaking around. And the rest on Aura, because that is where its all at on Remnant. That much at least I remember."

 _ **Body:**_

Brawns 08 +/-

Toughness 08 +/-

Nimbleness 12 +/-

 _ **Mind:**_

Brains 08 +/-

Charms 12 +/-

Noticing 12 +/-

 **Soul:**

Aura 15 +/-

Luck 00 (L)

Netherness 00 (L)

Available points: 00

 **Are you certain of you...**

"Yes yes, I know the spiel, I'm certain, get on with it." Crossing my arms I waited impatiently for the Pillar to display my remaining options.

 _ **Background**_

 _ **Name**_

 _ **Start Game**_

"So, this is the penultimate option. After this the … Game... will start," a half sarcastic, half truthful remark, "I can hardly wait."

 _ **Background**_

Since you have chosen the Grimm race the number and style of available backgrounds differ greatly compared to possible Human and Faunus backgrounds. Whereas Humans and Faunus begin their new game within civilization, the Grimm start far apart from that.

Available for you are a number of climates and terrains to choose from. Once chosen a starting location will be randomly generated.

Once a starting location has been accepted, a time period to inhabit can be chosen.

 **Climate (choose 1):**

Hot

Temperate

Cold

 **Terrain (choose 2):**

Wetlands

Forests

Mountains

Plains

Deserts

Ocean

"Hm, Hot, Forests, Ocean, tropical island, here I come."

 **You have chosen:**

Hot, Forests, Ocean

 **Starting Location:**

A small, unnamed island in the Sea of Monsters, in between Vacuo/Vale and the Black Continent

 **Terrain:** Tropical Island, surrounded by colorful Reefs, caressed by a warm ocean breeze.

 **Resources:** Rich in fish and wood

 **Inhabitants:**

Birds, Insects and small Lizards.

"That sounds wonderful," narrowing my eyes, "which is why I am wondering what you are hiding from me."

"But no matter, I have got to start somewhere, so it might as well be on a tropical island, far away from dense Grimm populations and Humans."

 **Are you certain of your Choice? Your starting location can influence your Playthrough significantly, though no possible location is inherently better than any other.**

 **Yes/No**

"Yes, I'm sure. Get on with it." Rolling my eyes, I waited for the Pillar to display the possible time periods for me.

 **Timeline:**

 **2 Years before the official declaration of the Great War:**

During this time the entirety of Remnants Human civilizations were at war with each other. Originally springing from a revolution in Vale it quickly engulfed all of Remnant. Many heroic and villainous deeds have been done in this time.

 **56 Years after the End of the Great War and 1 Year before the Faunus Rights Revolution:**

During this time the suppression of Faunus by Humans was at an all time high.

The Faunus Rights Revolution is sparked by the large scale resettlement of Faunus on the, to that date, uninhabited continent mockingly referred to as "Menagerie".

 **79 Years after the End of the Great War:**

Remnant enjoys an almost unprecedented period of peace. Attacks by Grimm and crime are at an all time low, but not all is as it seems, and Nightmares and Fairy Tales are preparing their return into the light of day.

During this time a first year class of Beacon is starting to gather that will go down in Legends.

* * *

"Hm, what should I chose? Great War or Revolution or Begin of the Story? Because that bit about the first year class basically screams heroes."

"Hm, I have no idea whatsoever about technologies or other stuff that would help be choose. But a Revolution sounds like a good road to power, after all, the Revolutionaries of Today are the Dictators of Tomorrow, right?"

Laying my head back I stared along the Pillar into the distance until it faded into a silver line far above me. "Once again a case of not enough information to make an informed choice. Might as well choose the middle one, because its in the middle."

 **You have chosen the Faunus Rights Revolution.**

 **Are you certain? The Choice of your starting Time has a momentous Impact on your possible Playthrough.**

 **Yes/No**

"Oh, so when I start has an effect on what I can do," rolling my Eyes, my next Words came out sarcastically, "who would have thought?"

Tapping yes I waited for the Pillar to display my ultimate choice.

 _ **Name**_

 _ **Start Game**_

* * *

 _ **Name:**_

Since you have chosen a Grimm as your character race the choice of name has less impact on your Playthrough than as a Human or Faunus.

In the case of a Grimm your name is merely whatever you choose to call yourself and has no effect on any legal documentation whatsoever, since you have no legal documentation.

 **Enter your Legal Name:**

"Hm, if I remember correctly People chose Names based on colors after the end of the Great War. So maybe I should go with that as well? I mean, its not like I remember what I used to be called."

A intimately familiar feeling overcame me at that Point.

I knew that I had once had a name that I was called, but in all my memories I could not recall it. White Noise whenever I was called by my real name.

I could remember names of characters that I played in countless games, but none of them had been my real name.

I knew then that in the same way my Race and Looks had been inserted into my past, so would my new name be.

"Better chose something that I can live with."

I combed my memory's for names associated with colors that I could live with, and also names that had a personal meaning to me.

"Lets see, for an Name that means something for me... How about something with black and white, maybe red in it?"

As I mumbled to myself a screen appeared at the side of the Pillar.

 **Possible names related to colors and their meaning:**

"Ok, that is actually helpful for one. Though I'm betting most of those names are related to blood spilling and death and such Things."

And it was as I thought. Nevertheless I did find a few Names that sounded nice enough that I could life with them. After thinking about them I finally chose the combination that felt best.

 **Enter your Legal Name:**

Aeronwen Dougal

 **Are you certain of your Choice?**

 **Yes/No**

"Well, I guess this is it. The Last Choice. After this I will start this godsforsaken Game."

The script on the Pillar disappeared one last time into a swirl of light to rearrange itself into something else.

While the script changed I too was overcome by a change. I had anticipated it, and yet it was still highly disturbing to feel how my memory's shifted and changed. Where there were holes and white noise, there was now a memory of my Name.

And my Name it was, no longer felt it like something that I had merely chosen, but rather something that had been there my whole life.

 _ **Start Game**_

With one last deep breath I pushed the glowing words.

* * *

 **AN: If you have any Comments or Ideas you are welcome to leave a review or write me a PM. Until the next Time.**


	8. Dawn of a new day

**AN: So, here we are once more. Not that much to say, the story continues at pace, though there is not a lot of stuff happening in this one. More or less just getting stuff in order, the usual.**

* * *

 _Once upon a Time there was a young Girl in a cruel World. Unwanted and unloved she grew to hate the world of man and all its creations._

 _Every day her hatred grew and grew until it encompassed her entire being and she could think of nothing else but the destruction of mankind._

 _All the cruelties she witnessed, all the hatred and all the despair called out to her._

 _"Deliver us! Save Us! Destroy us! End our Pain!"_

 _Long did she search for answers to her question, roamed the world far and wide, seeing all Humanity had wrought and despaired, for alone she could never destroy it, and mankind for all its rage and hatred would never succeed in destroying itself, not without help._

 _So then she finally found an answer, in the deepest, most defiled places of the world._

 _An answer to her greatest, deepest wish, her darkest desires fulfilled._

 _And all it took was a simple choice._

 _And a simpler choice there never was._

 _(LINE)_

After pressing the words, for a short time nothing happened just long enough to make doubt rise up. Then the white light of the room started fading into darkness until only the silver Pillar in front of me remained.

Then that too faded.

I spent one timeless moment in darkness, with nothing but my panicked breath and the low wordless noise my voice made as company.

Then the universe exploded around me.

An infinitude of sounds and lights and motion branded on to me from all sides.

All orientation and sense and thought was lost.

When I came to, the first thing I saw was a floating window of slightly translucent, silver stained glass with a border made seemingly from tiny bleached bones and fangs. On it I could read a familiar glowing Script.

 **Welcome to the World of Remnant!**

Slowly other things invaded my consciousness, the feeling of warm sand on my skin, the sound of wind rustling leafs and waves rushing onto the shore. Bird calls in the trees and a slowly rising sun on the horizon.

It was at that moment that I realized that I had truly made it. My Wish had come true, my desire fulfilled. In that moment a deep joy overcame me, in a way that I could not remember having ever felt before.

I was shaken by a deep, mad laughter that went on and on. I laughed till I cried and then I cried till I laughed again.

It must have taken me hours to calm down. By the time I diverted my attention towards the screen, that still floated in front of me, the sun had risen high into the sky.

 **Welcome to the World of Remnant!**

 _Here some last minute advice before you start the Game:_

 _Calling out **Main Menu** will open a list of all available screens though some will have to be unlocked before showing up on the list._

 _Calling out **Character Screen** will bring you directly to your character screen._

 _Calling out **Inventory** will open your inventory screen._

 _Calling out **Achievements** will open your currently available achievements as well as a list of all completed achievements._

 _Calling out **Quests** will open your quest menu, displaying all currently tracked quests as well as all available quests._

 _Calling out **Map** will display your currently known territory, as well as known quest objects if quests tracking is activated._

 _And remember, dying might not kill you the first time, but it will eventually, so be careful, and while we would wish you good luck, we are well aware that you are not going to have any._

 **Ok**

I pushed **OK** and watched the Window disappear. "Well, wasn't that a cheerful sendoff from those jerks."

Shrugging my shoulders I decided to have a quick look around before I started figuring out the controls of my new life.

To my right stretched on an endless, startlingly blue ocean, reflecting a nearly cloudless sky. The slowly rising sun illuminated a long stretch of sandy beach, broken by small clumps of grass, large shells of clams and seaslugs littering the beach, with some driftwood here or there.

To my left the beginnings of a tropical forest, multitudes of colorful birds reigning over the branches and the air of the forest.

Beyond that waited a wilderness whose thinned out beginnings paled in the face of these ancient forest giants who created an, one first sight, seemingly impenetrable jungle.

Having finished my quick look over and having seen nothing that would show a present danger to me, I searched out a comfortable looking dune and sat down to have a look at my options.

" **Main Menu**."

In front of me appeared a large silver window, just as translucent as the one from before, but somewhat larger in size.

 **Main Menu**

 **Character Screen**

 **Inventory**

 **Achievements**

 **Quests**

 **Map**

 **General Options**

"Hm, lots of things. Go through them one by one?" I gave it a moments thought and then decided. "Best to make it so. Who knows whats waiting for my in that jungle, better to be prepared."

 _ **Character Screen**_

 _ **Current Title:**_

 _The Gamer_

 _ **Legal Name:**_

 _Aeronwen Douglas_

 _ **Race:**_

 _Nahual (spoken [na'wal] )_

 _ **Gender:**_

 _Female_

 _ **Level: 1 (0/2000xp)**_

 _ **Basic Attributes:**_

 _ **Body:**_

 _Brawns 08 (+0%) = 12_

 _Toughness 08 (+50%) = 12_

 _Nimbleness 12 (+0%) = 12_

 _ **Mind:**_

 _Brains 08 (+50%) = 12_

 _Charms 12 (+0%) = 12_

 _Noticing 12 (+0%) = 12_

 **Soul:**

 _Aura 15 (+0%) = 15_

 _Luck 00 (L)_

 _Netherness 00 (L)_

 _ **Available Points: 00**_

 _ **Derived Attributes:**_

 _ **Health Points** **(Tx10)** **:** 120 HP_

 _ **HP Regeneration** **(T + 3% /24h)** **:** 12,12 HP reg. in 1 Hour_

 _ **Stamina Points** **(T x100)** **:** 1200 SP_

 _ **SP Regeneration** **(T + 3% /1m)** **:** 12,12 SP reg. in 1 min of Rest_

 _ **Aura Points (Ax10): **150 AP_

 _ **AP Regeneration (A/1h):** 15 AP reg. in 1 Hour_

 _ **Advantages:**_

 _Enhanced Injury Resistance, Enhanced Pain Resistance, Enhanced Regeneration, Supernatural Sense (Empathy), Ageless Growth, Transcendent Intelligence, Transcendent Vitality, Body of the Gamer, Will of the Gamer_

 _ **Disadvantages:**_

 _Reduced Senses (Taste), Reduced Senses (Smell),Murderous Instinct, Soulless Monstrosity, Hated By Humanity, Pact of Darkness_

 _ **Current Status Effects:**_

 _Tainted by Darkness_

 _ **Skills:**_

 _Enhanced Injury Resistance_

 _Level: 1 (0/100xp)_

 _+3% Toughness for the purpose of preventing Injury._

 _Enhanced Pain Resistance_

 _Level: 1 (0/100xp)_

 _+3% Toughness for the purpose of ignoring Pain._

 _Enhanced Regeneration_

 _Level: 1 (0/100xp)_

 _+3% Toughness for the purpose of regenerating SP and HP._

 _ **Abilities:**_

 _Sense Emotions_

 _Level: 1 (0/100xp)_

 _Reach **1x (No+Br)m** per Skill Level. _

_Current Reach: 24m_

 _ **Achievements:**_

" _Hate the Game, not the Player",_

 _ **Available Titles:**_

 _The Gamer_

* * *

"Huh, thats a lot of Stuff. Maybe I can..." with a thoughtful look I pressed the first header " **Current Title:** " and kept it pressed. After a few seconds a smaller window opened to the side of the character screen. On it a small description could be read.

 _Titles are based on deeds of significance that a character has achieved._

 _Depending on the title and the deed it symbolizes a character can get greater or smaller bonuses, in addition to what ever they got by completing the achievement in the first place._

 _It is also possible that other characters may change their view and reactions to you depending on your choice of titles._

 _A title like "Man-Slayer" for example that would be gained by the killing of Humans or Demi-Humans would create a bad Impression amongst Humans and Demi-Humans, but might raise your influence with Grimm._

 _Titles can be changed at any time through the use of your character screen._

 **OK**

I closed the small window with a nod.

"That was actually informative. I am pleasantly surprised. Now lets see what happens when I keep the title itself pressed."

Once again a smaller Window opened to the side.

" **The Gamer"**

 _This Title was gained upon starting a New Game and completing the Achievement_ _"Hate the Game, not the Player"._

 _Active Bonus: As long as this Title is equipped the Character gains nothing. Yup, that's right, you heard me, absolutely nothing. So if you want a Title that's actually worth something you should get up off your Couch and do something._

 **OK**

"I take back what I just said. I hate you," narrowing my eyes I glared at the screen, "sooo very much."

Sighing I pressed **OK** and closed the small window. "Whats next then. My name? Hm, näh." Scratching an itch under my feathers were some sand had gotten under, I tapped the next interesting sounding point.

 **Level: 1 (0/2000xp)**

 _You currently have 0 xp and need another 2000 xp to reach the next Level._

 _Experience can be earned during the Playthrough in a variety of ways._

 **OK**

I rolled my eyes, "right, that was useless. On to the next part." Meanwhile I slowly combed my feathers using my surprisingly dextrous clawed fingers, brushing out whatever sand or leafs that had gotten stuck during my not so brief freakout after waking up. I also managed to cut myself with my own claws only a few times.

 _ **Basic Attributes:**_

"Nope, still remember the descriptions from the tutorial. Ah, lets see here." Going down my character screen I arrived at the next point.

 _ **Current Status Effects:**_

 _Tainted by Darkness_

"What does this Stuff do?"

 **Current Status Effects:**

 _Under Current Status Effects you can find anything that would impede or bolster your Progress as a Character. Be it Curses, Blessings or Injury's, here you will find a Summary of everything that ails you._

 **OK**

"Easy enough to remember, now what is Tainted by Darkness?"

 **Tainted by Darkness:**

 _You have been tainted by the Powers of Darkness and as such you are a Magnet to the Creatures of Grimm._

 _The Will of the World does not look kindly upon such things like you and would very much like to see you dead. Your Luck is reduced to 0 and impossible to increase._

"Oh. Right. That." A tired sigh wound its way from between my lips. "Not like I need a reminder that things are not going to go easy."

I took a look across the ocean, taking in the sight of colorful fish dancing beneath the waves, watching waves lap upon the shore. The sound of birds and the windswept leaves in the forest filling my ears. It felt peaceful and made for a strange dissonance to the memory's after the Black Room.

For while I could remember peaceful moments from my last life, these memory's were all covered with a haze. A cloud like covering, that let me discern facts, like the fact that I had spent peaceful moments looking at the ocean before, but I had few pictures to go along with, just a faint emotion of longing.

Shaking my head free of those errant thoughts I concentrated on the next part.

 **Skills:**

 _Under Skills you can find a Collection of all passive Knowledge that you have gathered. This includes Things you only know subconsciously, like how to regenerate Wounds faster, or how to resist Pain easier, but also Things like Crafting, Sneaking, and so on._

 **OK**

"Hm, this one is called enhanced Injury Resistance. Something to do with the Advantage?"

 _The Basic Version of this Skill gives a 2% Bonus per Skill point to Toughness for the Purpose of Preventing Injury._

 _The Enhanced version, gained through the Advantage "Enhanced Resistance (Injury)" gives 3% per Skill Level. Once this Skill has been mastered a Better Version can be acquired. That too will be the Enhanced Version._

For a while I just stared at the description, head leaning to the left, one of my eyes slightly twitching.

"So, I don't actually get a 50% increase in Resistance with that advantage? Then what the hell did I buy that for?"

After I had cooled down a little by calling the creators of this system all kinds of names I thought about it for a while.

"Actually, while I do not get a 50% in the beginning, if I reach a level 50 on it, I get 150% instead of just 100%. On Level 100 I get 300% instead of 200%. And if it also counts for the advanced versions of those skills, that's probably even more."

I crossed my arms in front of me and pouted, still somewhat offended.

"Still, they should have described that clearly in the character creation."

Shrugging my shoulder I decided to let it go.

"But, nothing I can do about that now, and I guess I can live with it."

I closed my eyes with a sigh and lowered my voice, "or at least I hope I so."

I shook my head, and took a deep breath. I remembered doing that once upon a time to calm down. Take a seep breath, hold it, and then forcefully exhale.

In that moment a strange dissonance overcame me, for while I remembered breathing, and trying to hold my breath and not managing to do so for longer than a minute, this time the burning desire for air never came. The Dissonance got stronger the longer I held my breath, until my mind screamed at me to breath, but my body felt just fine.

And yet, for all that confusion, my will never broke. Trusting in my body's instinct I decided to keep holding my breath, until I either calmed down, or passed out, whichever happened first.

* * *

As it turned out I was incapable of passing out due to lack of oxygen, but not for a lack of trying. It took more than half an hour until I had gotten used to the idea of not needing Oxygen. Another half hour after that was spend walking up and down the little stretch of beach trying out if exertion would make me crave air. But it seemed as if I had truly gone beyond the need for such paltry things like breathing.

Finally I exhaled, and inhaled again, for the first time in an hour. My breathing was at first somewhat ragged and uneven, but quickly stabilized. "Hm, it seems it still feels better to be breathing, than not to. I guess a lifetime of conditioning is not that easily broken." Shrugging my shoulders I once again took place on my little dune.

"Now lets see what else have we got?"

 **Abilities:**

 _Under **abilities** the player can find all active knowledge the character has gathered. Anything that can be activated or needs stamina and/or aura to function. This can include things the character normally has only subconscious control over. _

**OK**

"Now, lets see what exactly that does." I pressed **OK** and immediately kept my finger pressed on my only ability.

 **Sense Emotions**

 _This ability, gained through the advantage "Supernatural Sense (Empathy)" enables the character to feel the emotions emitted by sapient beings. The reach and clarity of this ability depends on his Skill Level and his Brains and Noticing. This ability is automatically active unless otherwise specified._

"So, that should be active right now." I closed my eyes trying to feel something out of the ordinary, but there was only the wind and the sun on my face. "Guess there has to be someone there for that to actually work." Shrugging my shoulders I went back to reading my character screen.

 **Achievements:**

 _On your Character Screen you can find a short Summary of all the Achievements you have completed thus far. At later stages in the Game only the latest Achievements will be summarized._

 **Available Titles:**

 _Here you can find a list of all the Titles you qualify for. You can chose your active Title by exchanging your current Title, or by choosing one from this list._

"And that was everything on my character screen so far. " I closed my character screen and stood up to stretch. Interestingly I was neither tired nor were my muscles stiff.

"Lets see what the Rest of the Main Menu has to say."

 **Main Menu**

 **Character Screen**

 **Inventory**

 **Achievements**

 **Quests**

 **Map**

 **General Options**

"Inventory."

In front of me unfolded two medium sized windows. In the left one I could see an image of myself, in all my naked glory, along with a short summary of my stats and currently equipped items, of which I had none at the moment.

"Hm, I wonder..." With one eye on my inventory screen I got um from my seat and picked up a long piece of sun-bleached driftwood laying close to me on the Sandy Beach.

A small window popped up close to the Inventory Screen.

 **Junk-quality Item acquired. Equipped as Weapon.**

The window closed after a few seconds of obnoxious blinking and I turned my attention back towards my inventory, where I could now see a lone icon inhabiting an otherwise empty item window. I pressed the vaguely stick-like and greyed out Icon and was rewarded with a small window popping up with a description of the item.

 **Lonesome Driftwood (equipped)**

 _Quality: Junk_

 _Length: 0.93cm_

 _Weight: 4.35 Kg_

 _Stability: Low_

 _Damage: (Brawns/3) + 6_

On my equipment screen a small image of myself could be seen. Holding a long white piece of wood, working very much like a tiny full body mirror.

A closer look at my summarized stats revealed the changes every time I dropped the wood and picked it up again. Meanwhile ignoring the little Window that popped up with every drop and pick up.

 **Close Combat Damage:**

 _Claws: (Brawns/10) + 4 can inflict Bleeding, current Damage: - 4.8 hp on hit._

 _Fist: (Brawns/8) + 1, can inflict Dazed, current Damage: -2 hp on hit_

 _Stick: (Brawns/3) + 6, can inflict Dazed, current Damage: -8.6 hp on hit_

As I finally dropped and picked up the stick for the fifth time a different window appeared in front of me. This one had a golden tentacles with thorns in place of suckers ringing the border instead of the normal bones and fangs.

 **Congratulations!**

 _You have unlocked the Achievement "You Tollpatsch!"_

 _This Achievement has been unlocked by dropping and picking up the same item 5 times in a Row within 5 minutes._

 _Is confers a passive Bonus of 10% to Brawns for the Purpose of carrying Items. (You know, to help you stop dropping everything.)_

 **OK**

"Huh... ok. I can't say I expected that. I mean, I expected the sarcasm, but not the actual helpful Bonus. Now lets see what my carrying capacity is."

Closing the somewhat cheerfully creepy window I took a closer look at the item part of my inventory screen.

 **Inventory:**

Capacity: 99 spaces free.

Weight limit: ((Brawns + 10%)/2x10) kg = 44 kg*

*everything the Character carries counts towards his carrying Limit. That includes but is not limited to, Armor, Weapons, items in his Inventory and anything he might happen to hold in his hands.

Current Weight: 4.35 kg / 44 kg

"Hm, so everything I hold in my hands gets an icon on my inventory screen, can I also put stuff in there?"

I took the piece of wood that I was still holding and pushed it towards the item window. It disappeared with a small flash of light, and the Icon of the Stick became colored in, now looking like the actual stick. Its Description changed as well, from **Lonesome Driftwood (equipped) to Lonesome Driftwood (stored).** At the same time the capacity changed from 99 spaces free to 98 spaces free.

"Hm, so things I carry in my hands count for weight, but not for space? That does make sense, I guess..."

I stared at the screen for a moment, then had a thought, "how fast can I pull something out of there? And can I do it blindly?"

I then gathered a few shells, some leafs and some more sticks, all smaller than the Driftwood and put them all in the inventory while at the same time ignoring the windows that popped up and blinked annoyingly at me for a few seconds.

"Need to see if I cant deactivate those. They are already getting on my nerves and its only been a quarter of an hour."

Tapping my right index finger against my lips I pondered what information I could glean from the inventory screen.

"Hm, lets see, the inventory allows me to automatically sort whatever I stuff in there through per-determined categories, but I can also apparently create my own categories and stuff things in these."

I played around with the different sections of the inventory. There was **Junk** , **Crafting** and **Weapons.** Everything that I had gathered thus far could be seen either in **Junk** and **Crafting** or just in one of them. My Driftwood on the other hand could be found under **Junk** , **Crafting** and **Weapons**.

One pleasant surprise was that similar items of similar quality stacked, but could be selected individually if needed.

Also, just to see what would happen, I shoveled a few handfuls of sand into the item screen, which did not create stacked sand grains, but rather a single item called **Beachsand** which simply increased in weight the more sand I shoveled into the inventory.

"Fascinating, and also potentially useful. Perhaps items under a certain size and weight are combined rather than stacked? It would certainly save inventory space and make organizing this easier."

I pondered on that for a few minutes while I played with the inventory screen, "it seems that inventory space is an artificial limitation, considering that I can stack similar items. Though I should try and see what the maximum size for an item is." Brushing whatever sand I still had on my hands off, I considered the various ways I could test the inventory.

* * *

After some playing around I found a couple of more things out about the inventory.

I could drag an item from the inventory screen over to the equipment page, which would place the item automatically in my hand. Combined items or stacked items would always place an amount in my hand that I would actually be able to hold.

I could press on the Icon for a little longer, which would first display the item description, but if kept pressed, would also place it in my hand though dragging it to my equipment screen was faster. Which hand an item was placed into depended on which hand I used to press the icons. If I used my left hand it would be left, and if I used my right hand it would be right.

In the case where I selected stacked items I could select either a number of them by pressing the icon several times, or by keeping it pressed, which selected all items in the stack. Though again, I only got an amount of items that I could actually hold. The rest would stay in my inventory.

How it knew how much I could hold, and how much was too much I had no Idea.

If I wanted to drop stacked items I could drag the symbol to the bottom of the inventory screen to a symbol looking like a bag with a hole in the bottom. In that case the stacked items would simply fall out of the bottom of the item screen with small flashes of light.

Combined items with variable weight like the **Beachsand** were always selected by weight unless dragged to the equipment screen. If pressed, the icon would produce a small window with a percentage slider and corresponding numeric and percentage values. If kept pressed I would get a handful of sand.

I could not create split stacks like with normal stacked items in my inventory though. Any amount of the same type of sand would always be added to the one item.

I could drop items, whether single, stacked or combined, by selecting the item and pressing D **rop Item** on the bottom of its item description, this would transport the item to my feet in a small flash of light.

* * *

I spent hours trying out various combination of items and actions to find the limits of the item screen and its capabilities.

I realized that the inventory only accepted items that were in my possession, though the definition of that was very finicky.

Apparently throwing something at the item window counted, but throwing something in the air and letting it drift through the window did not, since that just resulted in the object falling unimpeded to the ground.

But at the same time I could swing a branch at the window and it would act like a shield, stopping the attack but a branch of a tree that was moved by the wind would be ignored by the window.

No part of my body could pass through one of those windows and the windows stayed always within roughly 1m of myself.

Though the exact distance depended on where I opened the window, since it did not move after opening. If I distanced myself too far, it simply disappeared.

One thing I also found out was that I could not get damaged by the windows, since no matter how hard I punched them, I would always be fine, whereas if I punched a tree hard enough I would get some slight abrasions and minimal hp damage.

One interesting and perhaps even useful discovery was that I could change the size of the inventory and equipment screen.

By gripping the upper left and right corners and pulling them in opposite direction I could adjust the size of the windows. Though there were limits to it.

The upper Edge of a window never changed in its height. For example if I sat on the ground and opened the inventory screen it would be on head height with me. If I then got up, I had to either call out "Inventory" again to close the window, or take a quick step back so that it would close by itself since it would not move with me.

Normally each of the windows were around 40 cm tall and around 20 cm wide. If I then changed its width, the upper part would stay still and the bottom would lower itself to the floor accordingly.

However, even if I enlarged it while standing on a tree trunk, its size could never become larger then myself.

The last thing I found out was how to mark an item for quick-select.

This was quite well hidden, and I only found it because I studied the surface of the windows quite thoroughly.

As it turned out it the screens were smooth like glass, apart from the confirmations and the action buttons, like sorting for example, which were slightly raised and rougher in texture.

Sadly the windows, even the borders that did not look like it, were too slippery to hold on, any try to use them as footholds or similar things ended with my butt on the sandy beach and a few curses in the air.

Out of curiosity I then tested all the surfaces of all the windows for any hidden buttons or secrets.

That happened after I was finished punching and kicking the window for not being able to move it after opening it, preventing me from being able to use it in the heat of combat or during travel with a boat or a car or a plane or pretty much everything that moved faster than the planet beneath it.

My Tests were mostly motivated out of some sense of paranoia since I had the well founded feeling that the creators of this interface did not have my best interests at heart.

After some time my search proved fruitful, for in the lower left corner of the item description window I found a tiny hidden button, which upon pressing opened an even smaller window for me.

 **Mark Item for Quick-select?**

 _Only 1 Item per hand can be marked._

 _To retrieve a marked item simply put one hand in the air and form a fist akin to gripping a low hanging fruit from a tree._

 _Select hand ( **Left/Right** )_

 _To put the item back in storage simply let it go, it will automatically return._

 _Quick drawing an item is impossible if the hand in question is already holding an object._

 **OK**

With a triumphant smile I marked my Driftwood and closed all open windows.


	9. Transcendence

**AN: So, sorry it took me so long, but I got stuck for like a week because I was like, something should happen now, hurry up, but then I was like, I cant just jump over stuff, that's important, and then I got really stuck trying to get somewhere with more action, but had to ultimately realize, that I cant really write in a different way than I do now, one scene at a time, one thing building up on the other and stuff like that.**

 **So, I guess, this story is fairly slow burning, but in return will also be pretty epic in length, that's at least the plan.**

 **Anyway, that's why I update so late. I hope the next updates will not take me that long.**

* * *

 _Could you imagine the despair of the first people to witness the slaughter the Grimm wrought upon the empires of men, back before the world was called Remnant, back when Man had risen to Power with Dust and Wit, ruling over all he could perceive?_

 _Could you taste their fear when it all came tumbling down around them? Could you feel their rage and hate turning to terror as all defenses crumbled and all armies were defeated?_

 _And the realization that fear and despair drew ever more Grimm, that the more they fought and lost, the more they would continue to lose until all was gone, could you see that Picture before your inner Eye? Could you imagine such things?_

 _I don't have to, for I remember quite clearly._

 _I remember and rejoice, for it is not much longer yet, until my wish will finally come true._

* * *

My steps were light and easy, balancing my Driftwood over my shoulders, hands lightly resting on its hard and sun-bleached surface. I walked along the beach of my island, keeping look out for anything that might be of interest.

Alas, my island was as boring as it was calm. No traces of intelligent inhabitants could be seen. No traces of footprints apart from my own, no trash, no cold fireplaces, even what driftwood there was, was natural, and mostly too small and fragile to be of any use.

Strolling along the shore line I hummed a song that I could only half remember, singing whatever lyrics would come up from the depth of my mind.

"The Sun burns brightly from the Heavens down on you poor Sinners, or so the preacher said. But Hell will burn much brighter still if you do not change your ways, or so the preacher said."

Before starting my walk around my island I had had a quick look at the rest of the main menu, but had found little of actual use.

Achievements showed me a sheer endless list of greyed out and hidden achievements. Though it did display all my current achievements and the bonuses and titles I got from them, considering how few I had, it was fairly useless at this time.

Quests was equally meaningless, I did not have any quests at this time, and it seemed I could not create any for myself.

And surprise of surprises, general options was just as pointless. Not a single option had been unlocked at this time, all of them hidden and unavailable.

 **Locked Option:**

 _This option is locked at the time. Unlocking an option is dependent on a number of different factors, amongst them special achievements, quests or specific actions._

 _Whenever a new option is unlocked a notification will be displayed._

* * *

Somewhere along the way I unlocked a new ability, called **Identify**. That apparently happened because I stared at every little piece of driftwood, shell and interesting looking branch that came across my way.

It happened after around an hour or so of walking and intermittently looking at and gathering shells that a small window opened in front of me. After I stopped cursing because I walked straight into it, I took a look at the golden tinged window, similar in appearance to the achievement window, but somewhat less opulent in its ornaments.

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked a new Ability!**

 _You have unlocked the ability "Identify". This ability uses all of your senses and skills to rapidly categorize and summarize everything you can know about an object on sight. This offers you a similar amount of information as your item screen would, however it is also available for objects outside of your inventory._

 _The amount of information this skill delivers scales with your senses and knowledge skills. On higher levels it is possible to find out information about npcs and eventually even characters._

The first thing that went through my mind was not the usefulness of the skill, but rather a question. "Npcs? What the hell? That's the first time I hear about npcs." I pressed the word in the perhaps futile hope of getting a closer explanation, but to my great surprise I actually got an answer in the form of a tiny window barely big enough for the sentence written on it.

 _An npc is any living creature without higher thought or agenda. This includes most animals and all younger Grimm. Older Grimm or especially smart animals however are named and are counted as characters._

"Hm." Scratching my back with one end of my Driftwood I gave the matter some fleeting thought, and then abandoned it as meaningless. "Unless I can gain some special ability that only works on npc, not really important."

After I closed the window and proceeded with my way another I immediately walked into another opulent screen, similar in appearance to the one before.

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked a new Option!**

 _You have unlocked the ability "Identify". You may now access the display options._

"Finally some options!"

A quick shout of main menu and a selection unfolded a slightly more useful window in front of me. Most things were still greyed out and hidden, but at the top of the general options window there was now an entry called _**Display Options.**_

Choosing it opened another window in front of me with a number of options that could be selected.

 _ **Display Options:**_

 _Immersion_

 _System Clock (locked)_

 _Highlighted Tracking (locked)_

 _Highlighted Loot_

 _Highlighted Questgiver_

I of course accessed said options and discovered a few interesting things.

Immersion gave me access to an HUD that I could modify to my satisfaction. I could display names, titles and short descriptions for basically everything I looked at. I could also display my own Hp, Sp and Ap. I could also activate and deactivate damage and regeneration messages.

There were apparently different Designs available for the displays, but they had to be unlocked separately. What I got where three ancient thermometer like looking glass tubes filled to the brim with a different colored liquid each. The first one displayed my health and was filled with glowing red blood, the same color as the stuff that flowed through my veins. The second one showed my stamina, and was filled with some sicklish looking greenish-gray liquid, though I am not sure why it had that color.

The last tube that displayed my aura then was filled with a clear liquid, with some faint unidentifiable glow the only real sign of its existence.

It was around that time that I realized another problem, that I had overseen until that point. I did not know how to use my aura. I certainly had some, and if I concentrated I could even feel a faint surge of energy from the edges of my awareness, but I got not any closer to actually using it.

As for their looks, they were not too distracting, but still somewhat creepy fitting right in with everything else.

Highlighted Loot gave me the option to highlight every object in my surroundings with a faint glow, depending on its quality and worth. One trial later I deactivated it for everything with the quality Junk and below, since that made me more or less incapable of seeing anything of my surroundings.

Highlighted Questgiver gave me the ability to highlight objects, characters or npcs that would give me a quest if I interacted with them. The color of the glow and its intensity would apparently vary with rarity and difficulty of the quest. But since I had no way of knowing if that actually worked I decided to keep it activated and adapt a wait and see approach.

After a couple of minutes spent trying out the out various options, I continued on, only somewhat satisfied with my decisions.

The second and third hour of my stroll around my island saw me identifying the heck out of everything within reach. Fishes, birds, sand, twigs and branches, shells and seaweed nothing was save from my all observing eyes. And ears.

Most object read more or less the same, insert name here, weight that, description this. All more or less boring. Only a few things really stood out.

For one, I felt like an idiot calling out "Identify!" every couple of seconds while looking at a bushel of half rotten seaweed, or some broken shells.

At one point I was so far gone that I took a heroic pose with my left hand on my hips, right foot in the front and pointed threateningly with my Driftwood at a half sunken and rotting tree trunk and cried out, "identify yourself!"

Upon which I got a window with the item description and a parrot cry in the distance that sounded suspiciously like, "pity the fool! Pity the fool!"

I spent some time searching for that parrot to exact terrible vengeance upon it, alas I could not find it and so continued my travel along the shore line.

The other thing that stood out were a set of tracks that I more or less literally stumbled upon. I was busy looking at an identification window while slowly walking along the beach when my foot broke through a thin layer of sand, under which was only air. The dune I had been walking on had been washed out and broke under my feet, dropping me about a meter or so down. That in itself was more nuisance than anything. The important part was what I saw when I managed to extract my face from the gritty sand that it had slammed into.

Tracks, footprints, traces of something a lot bigger than the bird feet and lizard trails that I had seen thus far. Identifying the tracks opened three windows for me.

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked a new Skill!**

 _You have unlocked the basic Tracking skill. The Tracking skill will allow you to follow all kinds of tracks and help you identify what made those tracks in the first place. It is also used to track quest objects on the mini map and can on higher levels lead you directly to your prey._

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked a new Option!**

 _Unlocking the basic tracking skill has given you access to a new Display Option._

A couple of moments after closing the windows I waited for the feeling of knowledge to painfully invade my mind, but then I realized that I already knew how to track. Not particularly well mind but I knew the basics of the basics and it felt as if I had always known them.

That of course, was a stark reminder of just how much I could trust my memory's and instinct and did a good part in damping my, to that point, relatively good mood. The other part that dampened my mood were the tracks themselves, or rather their description.

 **Tracks (unidentified)**

 _Your Tracking Skill and Identify Ability are not high enough to completely identify these tracks. However partial information is available._

 _ **Animal:** _

_great Cat (probability 65%); Wolf (probability 25%); other (10%)_

 _ **Size:**_

 _In the shoulder: 1.5m (probability 65%); 1.3m (probability 25%); other (probability 10%)_

 _Length from head to base of tail: 2.25m (probability 65%); 1.95m (probability 25%); other (probability 10%)_

 _ **Weight:**_

 _190kg (probability 65%); 170kg (probability 25%); other (10%)_

Reading that description and trying to imagine the animal that left it did nothing to calm my mind.

I let off a sigh, turned on my back and stared into the blue sky, that was already showing hints of the sunset to come.

* * *

After a couple of minutes I had gathered my thoughts and banished all images of sinisterly chuckling, giant cats swallowing me whole and took another look at the tracks.

The combination of Tracking, Identify and a quick visit to the display options allowed me to see the line of tracks as slightly glowing, colored imprints as they vanished into the underbrush of the jungle.

Brushing all sand off me I slowly stood up and took a cautious look around.

Nothing stood out compared to before, the birds were chirping, the sea burbling on the shore, the wind rustling the leafs, and yet, suddenly everything seemed to have taken on a sinister note, as if there was danger waiting behind every dune, death waiting in every shadow.

It took me longer than I'd like to admit to continue my travel along the ocean shore. Always keeping a look out for more tracks. But I also held look out for anything that might help me in a fight. Any long pieces of wood, sharp sticks, anything at all. But alas, it truly seemed as if I was cursed, for apart from my Driftwood, anything that I looked at was either rotten, too small, or otherwise completely useless.

Along the way I slowly trained my tracking skills, but by the time Sunset came I had barely reached half of the first level. Identify on the other hand had reached the third level. Which while not allowing me to more precisely identify objects on sight, extended the item description in my inventory, allowing me to look at a short history of the object in question.

Of course since I picked all items up on the beach, that history was more or less the same for everything in my inventory.

 _Insert Name here was lying on a sandy beach for at least 2 weeks or more._

The thought of entering a jungle in the night, with who knows what just waiting for me to turn my back and eat me, did not fill me with happiness and so I decided to spend my night on the beach.

A quick look at the map revealed that I had traveled around half of the island, leaving the other half for tomorrow.

I settled down nestled in between two sand dunes, brushing away what shells and branches would have made for uncomfortable bedding and prepared myself for a night of stargazing. Luckily the Weather held on and the night was cloud free giving me an fantastic sight of the night sky.

After a few hours of stargazing and watching the broken moon wandering across the sky I gained a new skill.

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked a new Skill!**

 _You have unlocked basic astronomy. This will allow you to recognize major constellations as well as reliably calculate the day and month of the year on higher skill levels. It will also allow you to navigate using the stars._

The beauty of the starlit night did a lot to sooth my anxiety and I could slowly feel myself relax and drift away. In my half asleep state it felt like I would fall off the world if I made a careless motion and be set adrift in that infinite space.

* * *

 _That night felt like it lasted forever, my soul and mind unmoored from my body and set loose amongst those shining lights that spread across that velvet soft darkness._

 _I poured out my heart and soul into that night, all my dreams and hopes, all my fears and nightmares, all swallowed by that infinite starlit sky._

 _And when my mind and soul returned they brought a small piece of that starlit sky with them. I can not tell you with words of human tongue what things I saw out there, for there are no words in the languages of men to describe things beyond comprehension._

 _But still I will try my best, for to stay silent would invite forgetfulness, and that night is something that I never want to forget._

 _So even if my words are mere pale imitations, shadows and echoes I will still try to do them justice._

 _I saw the star-children, things of fire and light and life turning, twisting, dancing with the cosmos and each other. So great was their majesty that their mere presence bowed space and time to their whims, curving lines and making a single hour of dance last longer than the lifespan of worlds._

 _I saw and can still see it before my inner eye, the twisting double helix of living comets dancing around each other in an endless mating ritual that had begun when their solar system was born and would end in a glorious inferno, the death cry of their mother star._

 _Many more things I saw in that night but my body can not hold their memory's and what hidden secrets I learned I have already forgotten._

* * *

Once more I awoke to the sight of an ornate window, with the morning sun barely grazing the horizon. I do not know when I fell asleep, but my mind was still filled with memory's of strange dreams and beings so different that the waking mind could not comprehend their form and scale.

However upon reading the text on the window I realized that my dream had perhaps not been quite so dreamlike.

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked your Aura!**

 _You have unlocked your Aura enabling you its free use. Since you unlocked it using a special opportunity you gain specific qualities relating to your specific achievement._

Though my body was fully rested, my mind was not quite ready to wake up yet, as I groggily closed the window, only to have more open up in front of me.

 **Congratulations! You have completed a new Achievement!**

" _And I danced amongst Stars in the infinite Night Sky."_

 _Unlocked your Aura using Stargazing (1/1)_

 _You have unlocked your own Aura, using nothing but willpower, your soul and the infinite vast powers of the Cosmos. This has set you on the Path of mortal transcendence, but you have only made the first step. There are many more to follow if you want to leave behind the shackles of mortality and everything that binds you._

 _You gain a permanent +1 regeneration bonus per hour to your Aura Points._

 _Your Aura is permanently aligned with the starlit sky, giving it an alien, otherworldly feeling for all those sensitive to such things._

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked a new Ability!**

 _You have unlocked the ability "Stargazing". This ability allows you to connect your soul to the energy's of the vast Cosmos, allowing your mind and soul to travel the infinite distances of the dreaming darkness._

 _Using this ability will enhance your Aurapoint regeneration during its duration, as well as further align your soul with the infinite starlit sky, allowing you more and greater advantages the higher your level._

 _At the beginning this skill can only be used at night, with sufficiently low light level and cloud cover to see the starlight, but higher levels make that unnecessary._

 _Since you have unlocked your aura using Stargazing the Transcendence Achievement-path "the infinite starlit Sky" has been unlocked._

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked a new Ability!**

 _You have unlocked the ability "Meditation". This ability allows you to connect your Soul to the great, but ultimately limited energy's of the planet._

 _Using this ability will enhance your Aurapoint regeneration during its duration, as well as align your Soul with the World of Remnant, shackling you further and further to the soul of the planet the greater its level grows._

 _This ability can be used at any time, but certain places and circumstances can have a positive or negative effect on its outcome._

 _Since you have not unlocked your Aura using meditation the Transcendence Achievement-path "Remnants of Mortality" is locked._

 **Caution! You have learned conflicting Ability's!**

 _You have learned ability's that oppose each other in their effects on you. You can not level both ability's at the same time. Leveling one will diminish the effects of the other._

 _The conflicting ability's are "Stargazing" and "Meditation"._

"Ah... wut?"

* * *

I slowly blinked my eyes at the multitude of windows staring at me, not yet quite comprehending what I was seeing.

It took me a couple of minutes to read and reread the texts, and understanding what they were trying to tell me.

Apparently I had awakened my aura in the night, using stargazing as a focus, instead of meditation as a worldly sage might have done it. Or at least, that's how I interpreted what I now instinctively knew but was hard to put to words.

I knew how to connect my soul to the infinite starlit sky, a being, a place, a time, and so many other things all at once that I could not describe, since the words did not exist in human tongues. My soul had shattered its bonds that kept it tightly wound inside my body, allowing the force of my soul free rein over my surroundings and in shattering those bonds I had expanded my soul with a piece of that indescribable place.

And while this gave me access to more power than before, it also made me ever so slightly less... I hesitated to say human, since I did not truly know what that felt like anymore, even if I consciously knew that I used to be one, but it made me ever so slightly less mortal, less bound to this planet. Like shackles whose existence I never knew about were marginally widened.

Now at the same time I also knew how to connect and bind my soul to the planet, to embrace its life and aura, but a tiny part of myself, that part that was connected to the infinite starlit sky, felt disgusted at the mere notion of binding myself down to this place.

And I had the instinctive feeling that while the effects would be somewhat similar in the beginning, the end results would be vastly different.

I sat around for about an hour, just thinking about the night, those dreams and what the future held for me but ultimately decided that sitting around was not going to solve anything.

With a last shrug of my shoulders I closed all open windows and stood up.

Brushing off whatever sand still clung to me I continued my walk around my island.

* * *

I spent the time walking, looking for trails, identifying objects, though I did not bother actually reading the descriptions since it leveled Identify just fine without that, and trying to figure out a way to use my aura for combat.

It took me two hours and fairly close to my arrival point on the island until I finally figured something out.

It was not as easy as simply wishing to make an ability and letting the system create one. I had to understand what I was doing, had to know exactly what I wanted to happen, and had to have an idea of how to get there until the system finally gave me the last push and opened up two new ability's.

The first thing that I concentrated on was my ability to protect myself, or rather my lack of any ability's to protect myself. I had aura, but did not know how to use it for anything, and that had to change.

I instinctively knew the feeling of my aura, not just the way it pooled beneath my skin, filling me to the brim with energy that was more than just life and light. It also brought with it a feeling of expanse, of a distance that could never be crossed, though I found it hard to put that in words. I started there, tried to pull this energy out and keep it outside of myself, which did not really accomplish anything.

Every once in a while I would take a break in walking and just concentrate on the feeling of my aura flowing from within to the without, at the same time connecting me to the world, but also keeping me apart. I started to put my attention on that specific aspect of my aura.

There was the world and there was me. And one was not the other for even though both were connected they were also separated from each other.

For a while I concentrated solely on that aspect, the keeping apart, but after some time realized that disconnecting myself from the world was not something that I wanted to do at the time, even though that might have been useful, running away would not solve my problems, merely delay them.

Then I tried to sort of **harden** my aura, give it more mass, make it able to absorb things that tried to harm me but I did not know how to accomplish that. I could manipulate the energy somewhat, push it this way and that, but nothing actually did anything.

It was only when I pushed my aura into my Driftwood that I slowly started to understand what it meant to protect something from harm.

As the power of my soul flooded through that piece of driftwood I understood it in a way that I thus far had only understood myself.

I could feel its rigid but fragile body like my own, its hard and sun-bleached surface like my skin. And as I slowly clad it in my energy I started to realize how I could use my aura to protect it from harm.

Simply pumping my aura through it would not be enough, I had to pool it on the outside, decrease the flow of energy and instead of a thin coat I had to create something more like a wall, or an armor. Standing still I compared the flow of energy on my Driftwood with myself, my own body and skin. Determined the differences and the similarity's.

Pooling the energy, increasing the output beyond what was comfortable, stretch and conform it, until what was malleable and soft, became rigid and strong.

I took some time with that, pooling my aura around my driftwood and then hitting it against something until the fragile aura around it broke and then tried it over until the point where instead of breaking it would bend and flex to absorb the blow but would still be solid enough the stop some of the damage like an armor would.

Having succeeded at that I then proceeded to apply that to both myself and my Driftwood until I could uphold it without any additional concentration, upon with I got a congratulatory window right to my face.

 **Congratulations! You have learned a new Ability!**

 _You have learned the ability "Basic Aura Reinforcement". This ability prevents the user from taking damage by absorbing it with his aura. Any attack that would make damage instead reduces his ap. It also grants him 2 DR per Level while active. The effectiveness and cost of the ability scale with its level._

 **Congratulations! You have learned a new Ability!**

 _You have learned the ability "Basic Aura Shield". The basic version of this ability reinforces an object with your aura. This enhances the damage an object can make if used as a weapon. An edged weapon will cut easier, a blunt weapon will crush easier, and a pointed weapon will pierce easier. Any damage the weapon takes that would break it are instead absorbed by the aura of the user. The effectiveness of that is determined by his skill in Aura Reinforcement._

"And DR would be what?" A press of the word popped up a small window.

 **Damage Resistance:**

 _Damage Resistance is the amount of damage a character can take without actually taking damage. The amount of DR he has are subtracted from any damage he takes._

* * *

In the process of learning that I also expended what aurapoints I had available, settling at around 5ap, which was somewhat strange, as if a part of my self was missing or faded, bleached somehow.

It was with a thoughtful mind that I finally completed my circuit around the island. Little had changed compared to yesterday, or so it seemed at first. But upon closer inspection the ground revealed to me fresh tracks, similar to the ones that scared me so much the day before. I knew that I had to make a decision. I could either try and hide, or I could try and fight.

In the end there really was only one possible choice. Hiding would not make me stronger, and on a world like this only the strong survive. And had I not sacrificed so much for this one chance to become truly powerful?

The question that opened itself to me was then, what kind of weapon could I craft on this island? My claws and fangs alone would not be enough to protect me, since the beast would certainly have bigger teeth and sharper claws than me.

I could not make a sword here, and there were no useful stones to make a hammer with, perhaps later I could look into gathering shark teeth for a club or a sword, but for now spears would have to suffice. Some for throwing, some for stabbing. So it was with that in mind that I walked into the jungle in the search for useable resources.

* * *

Once in the jungle I used Identify on every useable looking branch, which at least gave me some hints whether or not it could be used for crafting. Over the course of several hours, from the morning until the sun stood high in the Sky I scoured the outskirts of the jungle for usable Branches. By the time I had gathered everything I could find, without venturing deeper into the jungle and risk confrontation with whatever beast left those tracks, I had leveled it up to 15. That granted me deeper insight into the history of objects, but also sharpened my senses in a way that was hard to define. Or it would have been hard to define had I not the ability to simple look at my character screen and take a look at my noticing, which had been raised by 3 points, simply by gaining levels in Identify. Another thing that I earned for staring at trees for three hours was a new skill.

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked a new Skill!**

 _You have unlocked the basic Botany skill. This gives the character basic knowledge about the plants of Remnant. Allows the character to identify names and effects of various plants. The higher the skill the more information is available._

This skill could be used in combination with Identify, giving me more specific information about plants. In my case that was useful for finding out the quality and usability as a building material, which was mostly low, and not very. Likely thanks to my abysmal luck, which did not allow me to just be lucky about finding something useful, or so I thought.

I also got knowledge about the berry's, herbs and spices that could be found on this island. But of course what I found was either not ripe, useful only as bird food or simply just there, without any useful properties whatsoever.

After I had filled my inventory almost to the brim with whatever low-quality resources I could find, I made my way back to the beach in somewhat of a bad mood. That was when I literally stumbled over the one thing that made the last 4 hours of enduring biting insects and stumbling over roots and scratching myself open because of an poison ivy equivalent worth it.

* * *

I had not been looking were I was planting my steps, too preoccupied with cursing remnant and every damned plant and bug on it, when the world suddenly made a turn and I ran face first into the ground.

At that point I was just about finished with the world and it took me some self control to not curse with all the power of my lungs. After a couple of deep breaths I rolled on my back and took a look at what exactly it was that I had stumbled over.

The first thing I saw were golden gleaming leafs, scattering the sunlight more like stained glass in a cathedral than mere plant matter. The bark of the tree was not brown and mottled with moss and mushrooms but a silvery grey that was dusted with gold and reflected the light like polished jewelry.

My eyes slowly wandered down the tree where I saw a long, perfectly straight branch laying on the ground. One side of it ending in a point, the other side looking charred and cracked, like an explosion cut it off from the rest of the tree.

I slowly rolled to my knees and hesitatingly reached out for the staff and picked it up, "Identify".

 **Dustinfused Branch (unique) (equipped)**

 _Quality: Incandescent_

 _Length: 2.1m_

 _Weight: 6.32 Kg_

 _Stability: Middle (+250%)_

 _Damage: (Brawns/2) + 10 (+250%)_

 _Type: Piercing + Special (Steamdust Infusion)_

 _History:_

 _This Branch has been dropped from a unique tree that absorbed a quantity of steam dust from the world itself._

 _The branch and the tree it came from are unique and thus nameless, leaving their naming to their discoverer._

 _The branch was cut off from the tree by a lightning strike that cooked of the steamdust within the contact point and created a small explosion._

 _This branch has been lying here for 4+ Weeks._

"Huh... Ok. … I guess... I can get lucky after all." I slowly pushed the branch into my inventory which by now was more than three quarter full assorted resources. I then stood up and turned my attention back to the tree.

"Identify."

 **Dustinfused Tree (Nameless)**

 _Size: 16.34m_

 _Weight: Heavy 100t_

 _Level: -_

 _DR: 807,3_

 _HP: 45.630_

 _Advantages:_

 _Growth of Ages, Dustinfusion (steam)_

 _Notable Skills:_

 _Lifeblood of the Earth lvl. 26; Skin of Stone lvl. 23_

 _ **Basic Attributes**_

"How the heck did anything manage to even scratch that tree?" A quick look at the branch in my inventory showed me the cause in a lightning strike.

"I guess a critical hit can come from anything. What kind of attributes do you have to have that many hp?"

 _ **Body:**_

 _Brawns = 3_

 _Toughness = 1755_

 _Nimbleness = 4_

 _ **Mind:**_

 _Brains = 3_

 _Charms = 2_

 _Noticing = 4_

 _ **Soul:**_

 _Aura = 24_

 _Luck = 6_

"Ok, how in the hells do you have that much toughness? I mean, HOW?" Shaking my head I took a closer look at the skills and advantages of the tree.

 **Growth of Ages**

 _This advantage gives the character a supernatural toughness the older he grows. Only the rarest of Plants and Animals gain this, and only through an intense contact with the aura of the planet._

 _Grants a bonus to toughness equal to five times the age of the character._

"Ok, so you are probably pretty old, and have a pretty high level since I cant see that. At least thats what I think it means when I cant see your level. So how about the rest?"

 **Dustinfustion (Steam)**

 _The Character has taken dust into himself. The Wrath of Nature made substance this can both help and hinder the character. No matter the nature of the dust he will find himself more in tune with remnant and all its creations, but he will also become more vulnerable against certain forms of damage._

 _In this case the character has infused his body with Steam Dust. This allows him to rapidly expand liquids upon contact with his aura, creating explosions in anything filled with water, which includes Blood, both his enemy's and his own. Herein lies both the potential and the danger of Steamdust. The user can create explosions within the body's of his enemy's, with nothing but his own aura, but must always take care not to accidentally create one in his own body._

 **Lifeblood of the Earth Lvl. 26**

 _This skill allows the user to expand his own life force massively, by tapping into the life of the planet itself. Every level will allow him to channel greater amounts of life through his own body, though it still depends on his own toughness, since some limits are not so easily broken._

 _At level 26 the user gains a bonus of 260% to his hp._

 **Skin of Stone Lvl. 23**

 _This skill allows the user to harden his skin and use it like armor. The effectiveness of the skill scales with level and toughness._

 _At level 23 the user gains 46% of his toughness as DR._

"Hm, those are some useful skills. I doubt I can get Lifeblood of the Earth, unless I start meditation, but Skin of Stone sounds like I might be able to use it."

Scratching my head I got the the branch out of my inventory and compared what I could see and feel with the tree.

It seemed that the skills were only active for something that was still part of the tree, for the branch that no longer had any aura or counted as alive, had no special amount of Damage Resistance, though it was still fairly hardy and tough, I could scratch it, giving sufficient force, whereas the same could not be said about the tree, which stayed blemishless no matter how much I tried.

It was with some hesitation that I stretched my aura around my new found spear, fearing an explosive reaction with the dust in the wood.

It was not an aurashield that I created, but rather a simple infusion with my aura, using the skills I gained trough Identify to find out everything I could about the dust inside it and the tree it had been a part of.

It was this way with Identify, even if I not actively used it, the knowledge of the skill was still there, just not as present and obvious as when I got the knowledge summarized on a window. For that knowledge truly came from inside of me, from all my senses and skills, even if I got a helping hand through the system.

What I could instinctively feel through my aura was that I could sort of channel it through the spear and into anything the spear was stabbed into, priming my aura with steamdust. That aura in turn would then turn any non-aura protected liquid into rapidly expanding steam, ripping its way outward in an explosion of scalding liquid.

Which in turn would of course also injure me should I be hit with it, but the potential for damage was truly astounding against anything without aura, and even against those with aura, should they be untrained, or their aura expended, it would surly create a lethal explosion.

After a last look at the tree I marked its position on my map and set out towards the beach.

* * *

One quick stop within reach of the water later and I had learned a new, and very useful technique.

 **Congratulations! You have learned a new ability!**

 _You have learned the ability "Basic Explosion Pulse". This aura technique allows the user to fire a pulse of steam infused aura that detonates any non-aura protected liquid upon contact. Reach of the Technique and Damage increase with level of the ability._

 _Use of Steam Dust reduces the costs and increases effectiveness._

Of course, that ability was not without its draw backs, for one, if I used it without Dust, it became prohibitively expensive, but every use with my spear reduced its stability, giving me about 50 uses before the spear would break. Good for combat, not so much for training.

After a quick look at the ability description I conzentrated in the reason I had set out a couple of hours ago, crafting. I was fairly certain I could make my spear even better, but for that I needed some training and crafting abilitys. So, I just set down, took out some brokeen shells with sharp edges and one one my javelins in potentia and just started scraping and cutting until the bark came of. Then I whittled one End to a point, an presto, one junk-quality Javelin.

 **Basic Javelin (equipped)**

 _Quality: Junk_

 _Length: 1.12cm_

 _Weight: 2.34 Kg_

 _Stability: middle (-75%)_

 _Damage: (Brawns/2.5) + 12 (-75%)_

 _History: Crafted by Aeronwen Dougal._

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked a new Skill!**

 _You have unlocked the basic Woodcrafting Skill. The basic version of this skill gives you a proficiency in the crafting of all basic wood-type items. Higher levels of this skill allow the user to craft more and better equipment. Tool use may be necessary depending on specific Recipe._

Thanks to Identify I now got to know exactly how much the quality of an item influenced its attributes, which, in the case of junk-quality items, was pretty bad. But still, I needed the training, and having a couple of those, was better than not having them and so I got to work. Every crafted Javelin got me 10xp, so it took me ten of them to gain my second level in crafting.

 **Basic Wood Crafting**

Level: 2 (0/200xp)

Allows crafting and repair of Junk-quality and lower items.

+4% quality of harvested wood-type resources.

+4% quality of basic wood-type Items.

 **1x Basic Javelin (stored)**

 _Quality: Junk_

 _Length: 1.12cm_

 _Weight: 2.34 Kg_

 _Stability: middle (-73%)_

 _Damage: (Brawns/2.5) + 12 (-73%)_

 _History: Crafted by Aeronwen Dougal._

 **10x Basic Javelin (stored)**

 _Quality: Junk_

 _average Length: 1.11cm_

 _average Weight: 2.32 Kg_

 _Stability: middle (-71%)_

 _Damage: (Brawns/2.5) + 12 (-71%)_

 _History: Crafted by Aeronwen Dougal._

* * *

 **AN: By the way, she really is unlucky, usually anyway. Every once in while I roll a d100 to test if she finds something other than junk. So i rolled once for the first day of the beach, once for the second day, and once for the jungle. And I actually rolled a 100 for the jungle. And then a couple of 90+ to determine what exactly she found.**

 **Anyway, as usual, read and review and until the next time.**


	10. The Third Day part 1

**AN: So, the next update. A lot faster than the last one, but also a lot shorter. Oh well. Figured I post something so I don't get stuck endlessly rewriting what I got, that way lies madness.**

 **I also posted the Character info separately, that way I don't blow up the word count and people who are not particularly interested in that don't have to read it, but its still there in case anyone wants to have a look. By the way, making those characters and skills and everything takes a crap load of time, a lot of effort that you as the reader never really see, but let me assure you, its there. For example, the number of attributes the Grimm has, or its skills, its level etc, all connected and I hope at least somewhat well thought out.**

* * *

 _Lords of Dust and Demise, will you remember me?_

 _Lords of Death and Destruction, will you remember me?_

 _When the time for dying comes, when I stand alone against the enemy?_

 _Lords, will you remember me?_

 _When our world is crumbling and everything we know falling apart, will you remember me?_

 _Be it heroes or villains, maidens or knights, beasts or monsters, will you remember me?_

 _When the ending comes, and everything we know is overrun, who will remember then?_

 _Oh Lords, will you remember me?_

 _Will you remember how I stood?_

 _Will you remember how I fought?_

 _Will you remember how I fell?_

 _Lords, will you remember me?_

 _-old folksong, origin unknown_

* * *

My night was filled with visions of distant stars and things that might never be.

 _A spiraling bolt of light and energy raced through the cosmos, from an uncertain beginning to an unknown ending. Filled with no more awareness than necessary for the realization of its own existence, that bolt of light had found itself fulfilled._

 _There were no desires, for there was nothing that could desire and so nothing that could be missed. There was no sadness, for there was nothing to be sad, and so there was no joy, for there was nothing to be joyful._

 _There was only the travel, the endless race from one end of the Universe to the other, endless in scope and infinite in distance. And in that race was found a deep boundless satisfaction, for when nothing is desired and nothing feared, nothing to be hoped for and nothing to be lost or gained, the only thing that's left is satisfaction._

 _Or so at least the bolt thought, for as much as it could think, for there was little space for thought in its shape, everything had been given for the race._

 _Everything that it had been, everything that it could have achieved for that endless race, every hope and every nightmare, every fear and every desire given away, traded for a simple, single purpose. The race was the purpose and in fulfilling that purpose it found satisfaction._

 _There was nothing else. There could be nothing else. There would never be anything else. Only the race._

The rising sun greeted my dream filled mind, and pulled me back into my body.

A night filled with stargazing and aura training, a dim awareness connecting me to my body leaving just enough conscious thought to allow the simplest aura techniques.

The visions of that infinite starlit sky slowly faded, leaving only impressions of vast distances and a strange unfulfilled longing mixed with a bitter feeling of regret.

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked a new Skill!**

 _You have unlocked the skill "Basic Aura Regeneration". Through concentration on the connection between their soul and their body the user can learn how to generate their aura faster and faster the higher their skill level grows._

As I gazed upon the summarized description of my entire being I felt it was time for some reflection, of what was happening, of what I had chosen and of what I was becoming. I could already feel an obsession growing within me, beyond the fear of death, beyond anxiety and stress, there was the hunger, the unending hunger for more. More power, more skills, more ability's, more everything.

I had gained several levels in several skills and my attributes had been raised through that. I was already thinking faster and more clearly than the day before, my aura had grown stronger and was regenerating almost a quarter faster than what I started out with.

My senses had grown sharper, my eyes could see farther, my ears hear more, even my sense of smell had gotten stronger, if ever so slightly.

I could see myself getting used to this, this sense of gratification, that everything I did mattered, that no matter what I did I would grow stronger.

Would that than be my future? An endless race for power, for one skill level more, for one level more? Would that be enough? Should it be enough?

I was contemplating my far away future when something much more immediate caught my attention.

A deep growl right behind me followed up with a wash of hot air. I froze and slowly turned around, making no fast movements, which seemed surprisingly easy for me. It was with no amount of hesitation or fear that I turned around, merely a faint sense of anxiety that rapidly faded under the flood of adrenaline or its Grimm equivalent in my veins.

The first thing I noticed were the teeth. And how could I not, they were mere centimeters away from my face. Long, sharp and bleached white they made for an almost pleasant contrast with the deep glowing red mouth of the Grimm.

The second thing I noticed were its eyes, deep pits of gleaming red set deep within the bone plated skull. But for all their bestial nature I could still see cunning in them, a cruel, bestial intelligence which was likely the only reason it had not attacked me on sight. For in these eyes I could feel a spreading confusion, like oil on top of a lake, the lake in this case being an unending hunger and eternal rage.

I realized two things in that moment.

One, I did not smell like a human, since I wasn't one, which must have been the reason this Grimm had not found me before, it simply did not have a reason to, even if my pact of darkness had attracted it.

Two, I had a soul and emotions, which the Grimm could feel which meant I was not a Grimm. But I was a Grimm or at least smelled and looked like one. It did not understand that and got confused.

I knew then that I had to use that confusion before the Grimm made its mind up to eat me anyway, just in case.

Trusting in my instincts, new and old as they were for me, I slowly crouched until I could make full eye contact with the beast, one hand slowly raising, I could feel its emotions, strange and familiar as they were come to a conclusion. My hand now on a level with its nose.

 **Attention!**

 _Your Skill level and Attributes are not high enough for the task you are attempting. Please raise your Attributes and Skill level before trying it again._

* * *

A deep huffing breath, inhaling my scent and coming to a decision.

A last eye contact, searing into my mind, a feeling of inadequacy the connection lasting for an instant and yet seeming far longer. Then it turns around, having weighted, judged and found me wanting.

It was with conflicted emotions that I watched the tail end of the Grimm vanish into the forest. One part of me was happy that I did not get eaten, but another part of me was sad that I did not get an oversized monster cat as a pet. Oh, well, with my new skill, I could just try again later.

 **Congratulations! You have learned a new Ability.**

 _You have learned the Ability "Dominate Grimm". Users of this ability can try to tame any npc Grimm of the same or of a lower level than themselves. A higher Level Grimm can be charmed with additional difficulty depending on level and attribute differences._

Sitting on the rough Beach sand I pondered the Information I got from using Identify on the Grimm.

 **Onza**

 _Race: Grimm; Onza_

 _Size: 1.43m_

 _Weight: 303kg_

 _Level: 10_

 _Age: 14_

 _DR: 258,68_

 _HP: 1916_

 _ **Advantages/Disadvantages:**_

 _Ageless Growth, Acute Senses (Hearing), Acute Senses (Smell), Low-Level Light Vision, Supernatural Sense (Empathy), Enhanced Resistance (Poison), Enhanced Resistance (Pain), Enhanced Resistance (Injury), Enhanced Resistance (Sickness), Enhanced Regeneration, Transcendent Dexterity, Berserker Rage, Murderous Instinct, Hated by Humanity, Soul-less Monstrosity_

 _ **Notable Skills:**_

 _Enhanced Injury Resistance lvl.15 Enhanced Pain Resistance lvl. 16, Enhanced Regeneration lvl. 32, Basic Tracking lvl 53, Basic Endurance Running lvl 35, Basic Swimming lvl. 32, Basic Natural Weapons lvl. 32, Natural Armor lvl. 45, Sense Emotion lvl. 23, Free Climbing lvl. 16_

 _ **Basic Attributes**_

 _ **Body:**_

 _Brawns = 84,28_

 _Toughness = 191,62_

 _Nimbleness = 68,88_

 _ **Mind:**_

 _Brains = 15_

 _Charms = 15_

 _Noticing = 42_

 _ **Soul:**_

 _Aura = 00 (L)_

 _Luck = 00 (L)_

 _Netherness = 00 (L)_

 _History: The Onza are quadrupedal ambush predators. They bear a strong resemblance to the great cats of the jungles of the dark continent and prefer selfsame jungles as hunting grounds._

 _Their base color is bone white with dark marking akin to spots of ink. Their heads bear the normal Grimm bone plates and their tails end in a long bone spike that is used mostly in defense against attacks from behind._

 _They prefer hunting in the dark or during dusk or dawn, but will also take an opportunity during the day if it presents itself._

 _The Onza rarely attacks groups of humans head on and prefers to stalk and ambush them when they least expect it, but that is mostly the case for lone Onza._

 _In a group Onza either follow the commands of an alpha or elder or if no such Grimm is in place, attack as a group simultaneously from several directions._

 _The Onza have one of the strongest bites amongst all known Grimm in their size class._

It was when I was having a closer look at the attributes and abilities of the Onza that another window opened up at my side.

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked another Option.**

 _By using Identify on your first Grimm you have unlocked the International Grimm Index. In it you can find information about all the Grimm you have encountered so far. Grimm that you have merely heard about or have only second hand information on can also be found here, however all information about them is suspect to change._

 **Congratulations! You have unlocked an Achievement-path.**

 _By learning the Ability "Dominate Grimm", you have unlocked the Achievement-path "Gotta tame them all!" The achievements on this path can be accomplished by successfully, or not so successfully, taming Grimm. So, go out there and tame them all, you know you want to!_

"Hm, that line about taming them all seems somewhat familiar, even though I cant really place it."

 **INTERNATIONAL GRIMM INDEX:**

 _Welcome to the International Grimm Index, or short Grimmdex. You can look at Grimm either alphabetically, by territory, seen or tamed or highest and respectively lowest observed level._

At that point the Grimmdex contained only a single Grimm species, so the various sorting options did not really do anything. The entry about Onza did not contain much more information than I already knew, apart from a black and white world map with a red tint wherever these Grimm lived.

"More information can be made available by taming an Onza or by gaining appropriate skill levels."

My sharp claws scratched a place were some sand had gotten stuck under my feathers. "An appropriate skill?" With a roll of my eyes,"like what, Grimm 101, how to skin a live Beowulf with only your teeth and a single lemon?" Shaking my head I loosened the last sand grains that had gotten stuck on my head, "I wonder were that one came from? Cant really remember. Although, something about a mustache maybe? Or a man? Or maybe a mustache-man, or something like that?" Shrugging my shoulders I put my attention on the character screen of the vanished Grimm.

"Now, lets see those skills of yours. All those attribute points have to come from somewhere."

 **Basic Endurance Running lvl 35**

 _The user has learned how to pace themselves for the long run, giving them the necessary endurance for hours and hours of running. All this running eventually pays of and gives greater and greater ability to regenerate your stamina._

 _The user gains +70% sp, +70% sp regeneration, + 18sp regeneration_

 **Basic Swimming lvl. 32**

 _This skill not only allows you to move faster and further through water while gaining less exhaustion, it also toughens your entire body the more you train._

 _The user gains +64% sp,+64% Toughness, +160% swimming speed._

 **Basic Natural Weapons lvl. 32**

 _The character has learned how to use the weapons nature has gifted them with. This is less a combat style and more a combination of Nimbleness, Brawns and killer instinct._

 _The user gains +62% Damage, +62% Brawns, +62% Nimbleness_

 **Natural Armor lvl. 45**

 _This skill governs the natural armor of some beings, namely those with especially hard or tough skin or shells. The more of it you have, the tougher you are. However this skill is not easy to train, and most often a lot of time is necessary to get anywhere with it._

 _The user gains +90% Toughness, +90% of Toughness as DR_

 **Free Climbing lvl. 16**

 _The skill to climb freely on any scalable surface using nothing but the tools mother nature gave you. Training this makes you stronger, tougher and more nimble._

 _The user gains +32% Brawns,_ _+32_ % Nimbleness, _+32% Toughness_

"Yeah, that would explain that. Still, those skills look pretty nice, and definitely something that I can get as well. Easily even, now that I don't have to be afraid of Grimm eating me."

* * *

 **AN: As always, read and review. If you have questions, for example about my sanity, or the story, and what have you, ask away. If you just want to congratulate me on my awesome writing, than by all means don't hold back.**


	11. The Third Day part 2

**AN: Man, timeskips will be the death of me. I have no Idea why these things are so hard on me but I always take forever trying to speed up the pace without at the same time losing the feeling of the story. And since I dont really want to just post a list of things she did, which would be hella boring, I take forever and a half to write stuff. Anyway, once more a new chapter. I posted the character document as of the end of the chapter in the assorted information along with some general FAQ type of thing.**

 **EDIT: I have no Idea how the hell that happened, but this time I uploaded the right one .  
**

 **EDIT2: Damn, I really had a lot of small typos in there. Anyway, did a few corrections and stuff.**

* * *

 _But shouldn't you fill your life with happiness and joy and love?_

 _What for? It all ends, just like everything else, and quite frankly, it does not seem worth the effort._

 _But, there is so much more out there then just the fight, just the power!_

 _Is there? Is there truly? And if I decided to burn down a city, where would your friendship be then? Your happiness, your joy? Would you celebrate the deaths of everyone you cared about? Their suffering and their demise?_

 _Of course not!_

 _Then what good are those things? If you do not have to power to protect those things, than why even try attaining them, you will just loose them in the end._

 _But its about what happens in between! You cant just give up like that!_

 _Give up? What makes you think I have given up?_

 _You sure as hell sound like it!_

 _I have not … given up... I have merely chosen what to strive for differently than you, and who are you to judge me for it?_

 _I am not judging you, I just want to understand._

 _What is there to understand? I want power, and I am willing to do what is necessary to obtain it. That is really all there is to it._

 _But without joy and happiness and friends and lovers and family, what the hell are you trying to get that power for? Because that sure as hell does not sound like a life worth living for!_

 _Even if I have to repeat myself. I strive for power because I have chosen to do so. That is all there is to it. A choice, a simpler one there never was. It was either to gain power, or to see everything I strived for ripped out of my grasp again and again. I simply grew tired of that. Is that so hard to understand?_

 _I understand that you are afraid to lose things you care for, I really do. But is this path the only one you can believe in? Is power really the only thing you care for anymore?_

 _Perhaps you have not lost quite as much as I have, so you cant truly understand what it means to be so powerless that the only thing that fills your heart, mind and soul is the unquenchable thirst for power. Should I show you? After all, if the things you think so great are truly so important for you, you surly have the power to protect them, don't you?_

* * *

After that interesting morning the rest of the day was somewhat less nerve wrecking, but nonetheless useful. Although the riches of the island were less than I hoped but about what I expected, namely little of any great worth.

Apart from the mysterious tree that still needed a fitting name and a few Onza that stalked the thick underbrush of the jungle, the only other things of note were assorted tropical birds and the mocking calls of a parrot that still managed to hide from me, despite my best efforts to find that little bastard.

During that wandering time in the jungle I tried various different ways to use my assorted skills and ability's and found at least some success.

For example, I was fully capable of using an ability without calling out its name, but in that case I would not get quite the same result. If I used Identify normally I would get a neat and clean summarized account of the attributes and effects of various things. If I used it without calling out a name, merely by concentrating and focusing on an object I got more or less the same information, just slower, less clinical and more instinctive.

I still simply knew the size and weight of an object, what would happen if I were to eat it, or hit someone over the head with it.

All of the knowledge of Identify, gained just by looking at an object very intensely. I even got glimpses of the past of an object just by studying its surroundings, its position in relation to nearby trees or shrubs could tell me how long it lay there, in combination with tracking telling me whether a twig had been brought low by the wind or if a bird dropped it. All that information was there and by actively using these skills instead of relying on the system as a crutch I not only learned a lot more and a lot faster but I also got a new skill.

 **Congratulations! You learned a new skill!**

 _You have learned the skill "Basic Vigilance". The character becomes more and more aware of his surroundings the higher his skill level grows. He is constantly on the look out for ambushes and hidden treasures._

This skill sharpened my mind and Senses, allowing me to see and notice more. In the beginning the effect was not very pronounced, but over time and with a growing skill and attribute level the resulting boost to my awareness was significant. The best part of this skill was that as long as I was at least paying some attention to my surroundings I was always training it. And If I used it in stressful situations, or while physically busy I raised it even faster. It also worked well in combination with Identify, since it boosted its effect, and made me more aware of objects that were hidden or otherwise unremarkable.

A similar case were my aura ability's. By manually activating them by doing the necessary aura manipulation instead of just calling out the name of the ability and letting the system do its thing, I learned a lot more and a lot faster. But on the other hand it also took obviously a lot more attention and the intense concentration depleted not only my aura but also my stamina.

* * *

How should I describe the colorful reefs and shallow shores of my island? I could try and paint you the innumerable swarms of fish in all colors of the rainbow with my words, shimmering and glittering under the brilliant light of the sun. The ocean reflecting the endless blue of the sky with not a cloud in sight. The water was warm, comfortable, bringing up haze memories of pools and hours spent lazing about in the summer sun of an almost forgotten past.

On that first day I lost myself exploring this seeming paradise, forgetting thoughts of training and power. In these too short hours my fear and anxiety were lost, drifting away with the waves.

My mind and thoughts were caught in trying to see everything this place had to offer. The reefs and shores filled with plants and animals in number, color and diversity that defied all description. My entire being caught in the grip of excitement and hunger for more. More life, more colors, more everything.

Swimming came naturally, for even though I could not remember ever having to work that hard to stay above water, I also did not need to breath, and with every hour I learned a little more, became just that little bit faster, that little bit tougher.

I swam until exhaustion overcame me then drifted in the currents looking up at the shimmering surface of the water thinking of nothing, hoping for nothing, desiring nothing. In these short moments I was content.

There was nothing but me, the ocean around me and the sky so infinitely far above and yet seemingly close enough to touch.

But of course all dreams of peace have to end. My waking came with a shadow above me, pitch-black and larger than anything I had seen in this world thus far. If I had to compare it to anything, looking at that vast shape barreling closer was very much like standing on a road and looking at a semi truck that comes rushing down the road. There was a similar feeling of inevitability in its form, of weight and speed condensed into something seemingly slow and pondering due to its size, but in truth fast and impossible to stop.

Only it did stop, but not because of me. There was nothing I could do, nothing to stop that vast black and white monstrosity, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. I looked into the face of death and yet I was calm, collected, almost cool in thought and emotion.

Shortly before it would have hit and crushed me, that vast shape slowed and then circled around me.

Glimpses of white, scarred horn-plates and barbed spikes revealed themselves to me. A seemingly smooth, black skin passed close enough to touch and I contemplated whether a lungful of water would be worth the additional information. After a few moments the decision was made and I used the last air in my lungs to use the skill Identify. Which did in fact result in the obvious, namely a lung full of water, though that was merely annoying and only slightly painful. It also opened an information screen in front of me.

 **Megalodon**

 _Race: Grimm; Megalodon_

 _Size: 20,6m_

 _Weight: Heavy 100t_

 _Level:16_

 _Age:21_

 _DR: 1585,15_

 _HP: 6192_

 _ **Advantages/Disadvantages:**_

 _Ageless Growth, Acute Senses (Smell), Low-Level Light Vision, Supernatural Sense (Empathy), Enhanced Resistance (Poison), Enhanced Resistance (Pain), Enhanced Resistance (Injury), Enhanced Resistance (Sickness), Enhanced Regeneration, Transcendent Dexterity, Berserker Rage, Murderous Instinct, Hated by Humanity, Soul-less Monstrosity_

 _ **Notable Skills:**_

 _Enhanced Injury Resistance lvl.18, Enhanced Pain Resistance lvl. 25, Enhanced Regeneration lvl. 46, Basic Swimming lvl. MAX, Intermediate Swimming lvl. 46, Deep Diving lvl. 55, Basic Natural Weapons lvl. 46, Natural Armor lvl. 16, Sense Emotion lvl. 27, basic tracking lvl. 34_

 _ **Basic Attributes**_

 _ **Body:**_

 _Brawns = 105,6_

 _Toughness = 619,2_

 _Nimbleness = 76,8_

 _ **Mind:**_

 _Brains = 34_

 _Charms = 22_

 _Noticing = 67_

 _ **Soul:**_

 _Aura = 00 (L)_

 _Luck = 00 (L)_

 _Netherness = 00 (L)_

 _History:_

 _The Megalodon are one of the most common form of aquatic Grimm._

 _They can be found in all the seas of the World._

 _In form they share a great resemblance with the various types of sharks only vastly greater in size, pitch black in color with white bone plates on their back, protecting them from harpoons and similar hunting tools._

 _The hunt mostly by themselves, only very rarely do they assemble into great schools under the leadership of an Elder or Ancient._

 _Legends speak of sharks vast enough to swallow ships whole and you would do well to heed these warnings, for in the darkness of the ocean they wait._

The Megalodon circled me a couple of times, seemed satisfied and once again swam out into the ocean. For my part I slowly drifted in front of my info screen and studied the information I had on the Megalodon, especially its skills.

 **Intermediate Swimming lvl. 46**

 _Having mastered the basic swimming techniques the character is now capable of learning more advanced techniques, training his body more and more._

 _The user gains +184% Sp +184% Toughness +460% swimming speed_

 **Deep Diving lvl. 55**

 _This skill allows you to dive faster and deeper without negative effects the higher the skill level grows. It also toughens your body._

 _The user gains +28 Toughness_ _+110% of T as DR_ _+275% Diving Speed_

After this close encounter I let myself drift deeper and deeper into the water, beyond the reach of the light of day into that dim twilight, where the water became cold and the pressure crushing. I remained there for some time, gaining the Deep Diving skill. The Pain of the water pressure and the damage that I incurred served as a reminder that this world was dangerous and even the most colorful places hide within them enough danger to easily kill me, weak as I was.

It was a weird feeling, being so deep under water. So little light, and even though I did not need to breath, the sheer weight of the ocean was crushing me, slowly and little by little. I was certain that if I were to go any deeper I would simply die. There would be no grand battle, no treacherous backstabbing, just a slow and inevitable increase in pressure until my bones crumbled and my organs liquefied, my flesh burst and my life was extinguished.

So it was with these cheerful thoughts in mind that I made my way back to the beach, to rest, to think and to plan.

* * *

 **Congratulations! You learned a new skill!**

 _You have learned the skill "Basic Ichthyology". The basic knowledge about the fish of Remnant. Allows the character to identify names and effects of various fishes. The higher the skill the more information is available._

 **Congratulations! You learned a new skill!**

 _You have learned the skill "Basic Malacology". The basic knowledge about the mollusks of Remnant. Allows the character to identify names and effects of various mollusks. The higher the skill the more information is available._

 **Congratulations! You learned a new skill!**

 _You have learned the skill "Basic Swimming". This skill not only allows you to move faster and further through water while gaining less exhaustion, it also toughens your entire body the more you train._

 **Congratulations! You learned a new skill!**

 _You have learned the skill "Deep Diving". This skill allows you to dive faster and deeper without negative effects the higher the skill level grows. It also toughens your body._

My time in the ocean gave me four new skills and some new hunger for power. Sitting on a dune I thought about all the things I could do while the slowly setting sun drenched the deep blue of the sky a violent red and purple.

I could run and swim and build till my hearts content. Hunt for fish in the sea and for birds in the sky. Slowly gather strength, build a boat and sail the seas of Remnant, climb its mountains and walk its valleys until I had seen everything it had to offer.

Or I could abandon nature, search for humanity and embrace it for all it was worth. Remember what my mind told me I once was and search for power amongst the remnants of mortality. I could become a part of society and hunt down the Grimm or I could lead a Revolution and tear down everything man had created to put something new in its place.

One deep part of myself, instinctive and buried under a half-remembered lifetime seemed fairly appreciative of destroying everything mankind had created though wether it was lingering bitterness over past transgressions or simply my nature as a Grimm I found hard to say. And so I spent the last hour of light watching the sun slowly dying in the eternal waters of the ocean to finally make ways for starlight and night sky.

In that night instead of simply casting my soul out amongst the stars I tried something a little different than before. Something I instinctively knew was possible but had not tried before. I searched for meaning amongst those vision of distant skies, for things long gone and yet to come.

 _And as I stretched my soul out further and further into the distant reaches of the infinite starlit sky I finally saw something, beyond mere meaning, beyond symbols of power and glory, beyond images of distant planets and long gone people of forgotten planes._

 _And I saw great towers stretching towards the stars and amongst many beasts and monstrosity's that lived in these lands there was but one soul crying out for salvation. But it was a salvation whose price would be paid by both the innocent and guilty alike._

 _And there was a Blood-Red-Flower with leafs like chains of alabaster and onyx entwined and stretched to breaking on a stem of broken promises, withering before my eyes, fire and shadow encroaching from all sides._

 _And I saw the hounds of war baying at the gates of a great city, waiting to fall upon man in a tide of blood and devouring darkness._

 _And I saw the light of souls dimming, crumbling under the weight of hatred and insanity, reduced to a mere spark threatened by blood and bone and night without dawn._

 _There was no fear within those images however, only elation, of a long hedged plan finally coming to fruition, of an ancient wish finally coming true._

* * *

Once more I was greeted by a near perfect morning. The Sun was slowly rising, setting the ocean and the sky aflame. The birds of my island sang, insects buzzed and the only thing that was truly irritating was that accursed parrot filling the air with calls of "Scrub the planks" and "move you bastards." Alas, it seemed that even my new found vigilance did not enable me to find it.

Shaking these thoughts out of my head I contemplated the meaning of my visions in the light of the rising sun.

Some of it seemed familiar, perhaps reminding me of my past life, or something that I had known? But most of it was strange and mysterious and ultimately useless without more knowledge.

So it was deep in thought that I walked around the island, slowly gathering vines and thin, flexible branches of the best quality I could find. From that I made myself a backpack, which interestingly enough did not only allow me to train a new skill called Basic Weightlifting, but also enhanced the amount of weight I could carry.

 **Basic Woven Backpack (equipped)**

 _Quality: Junk_

 _Length: 0.47cm_

 _Weight: 1.12 Kg_

 _Stability: low (-65%)_

 _Capacity: + 6kg (-65%) = +2.1 Kg_

 _History: Crafted by Aeronwen Dougal._

 **Congratulations! You learned a new skill!**

 _You have learned the skill "Basic Weightlifting". This skill allows you to lift ever greater weights, but sadly, does not as much for your strength as you might want. But still, if you keep at it you will become stronger. Eventually._

Weighted down with the heaviest things I could find, without ripping the somewhat fragile item apart, I started running through my jungle, climbing trees, jumping over roots and shrubs, exerting myself and training several skills at once. Whenever I had exhausted my stamina I walked slowly through the underbrush, keeping watch out for the few Grimm that I had found in the jungle, and tried to sneak up on them. When that inevitably failed I tried sneaking up on the various tropical birds of the island, always on the lookout for that annoying parrot. In case of the birds I only mostly failed, but it was still good training. In that way I learned three more skills.

 **Congratulations! You learned a new skill!**

 _You have learned the skill "Basic Free Climbing". This skill allows the character to climb freely on any scalable surface using nothing but the tools mother nature gave them. Training this makes them stronger, tougher and more nimble._

 **Congratulations! You learned a new skill!**

 _You have learned the skill "Basic Free Running". The art of free running teaches that wherever there is a will, there is a way, and wherever there is a way, there is one shortest path. Finding that path and being able to walk, or rather run it, is what its all about._

 **Congratulations! You learned a new skill!**

 _You have learned the skill "Basic Stealth". The basic knowledge of the ambush, the prowl and the sudden strike. How to move against the wind, how to hide tracks and prevent noises._

Once noon arrived I retreated to a small gathering of trees that I had found. Close to the beach several tall trees had grown together and formed a natural barrier with a small free space within.

There I put down several baskets that I had woven, most of them trials for my backpack. I stashed what non-perishable items I had in them to make space in my inventory and set out towards the ocean.

* * *

I wish I could describe these timeless reefs for you, the colors and infinite seeming riches. The mortals of remnant have long forgotten the beauty of the ocean, its splendor buried under the threat of death and danger. Still though, where the mortals could never linger, a Grimm could move freely and so I did. I did not loose myself in those shallow shores, but my sorrows still seemed far away from this place. Of course, whenever it seemed to me that I needed a reminder of just how dangerous nature could be I simply took a dive down, deep into the ocean, where the light of day faded and the pressure became crushing.

That said, I did not spent all my time there simply swimming and watching the fish. I also tried my hand at fishing, either standing on the shallow shore or swimming amongst the reefs. In that way I not only gained two new skills but also gained a few fish, small as they were.

 **Tropical Saltwater Fish**

 _Quality: Junk_

 _Length: 0.24cm_

 _Weight: 0.23 Kg_

 _Effect: Heals 3hp and 6sp upon raw consumption. (-64%)  
_

 _History: Lived his live happily in a coral reef. Was then brutally and mercilessly slaughtered for no good reason by the terrible as in really really bad "fish hunter" Aeronwen Dougal._

 **Congratulations! You learned a new skill!**

 _You have learned the skill "Basic Javelin Throwing". Allows the user the throwing of javelin-type weapons. Higher skill levels allow for more precise and devastating throws. Can be combined with aura-based ability's for different techniques._

 **Congratulations! You learned a new skill!**

 _You have learned the skill "Basic Spearfishing". This skill allows the user to hunt fish in the shallow shores using various types of javelins or spears. It shares many similarity's with basic javelin throwing, but specializes in the hunt in shallow waters._

After some more or maybe less successful hunts I returned to the beach. Standing upon that sandy shore I decided to start a Fire. Not because I was cold but because I was not looking forward to eating raw fish. I also wanted to see how much cooking would be able to improve its effect.

However as it turned out, while I theoretically remembered how to make a fire bow, actually making and using one was not quite that easy.

It was the setting sun that finally broke my patience and made me decide to put my fire making skills on a different day as I once again prepared my Mind and Soul for the infinite starlit sky.

* * *

 **AN: As always, if you have questions don't hesitate to ask, or if you have critiques or just some random comment.**


	12. A small skip

**AN: Puh, sorry for the long time, but I was camping for a week, and the week before and after was filled with preparation and getting into the swing of things again. Anyway, one update to show that I'm still writing and as always all questions and reviews are welcome. Also the newest character dokument can be found under assorted information.  
**

* * *

 _Sometimes I wonder why my memory's are so unreliable. So often it seems as if my past is like a net or web that holds only the greater things. Things that change me, things that I changed. But the smaller things the life in between the battles is lost, like sand running through a sieve._

 _But then, then I start to remember or I get the memory of remembering something. Things, terrible in their vast majesty. I call them Things, because there are truly no words in this or any other language that could describe them. I do not truly remember them, I can not remember them. For every time I try, I remember the times I did, and stop trying._

 _I remember terror and horror, but not the cause, not truly. Just, glimpses, and vague knowledge. I know they are cruel and evil and destructive. Not in the way a storm or an earthquake is, for these are things of nature and for all the destruction that they bring, it is uncaring without mind or thought behind it. But they, they are different and we are different and they hate us for it. A kind of hate that you can not imagine for it fills their entire being. They are hatred and rage more then they are mere flesh and blood._

 _They destroy unlike a storm or an earthquake because they care, because they hate, because they want to destroy us, because we exist and we are not like them. For them hating is like breathing, or having a beating heart. It is an undivideable part of their existence._

 _And there is more, I know there is more, but that knowledge should lay sleeping, forgotten. And so it does, and so I forget like so many other things. But, in forgetting I remember kindness and happiness and joy. And I find peace in that. For in remembrance lies pain and horror, for the truth shall not set you free, it shall merely enslave you with your fear._

* * *

It was in this way that I would spent the next few days.

In the morning I would run around the island jumping over roots, climbing trees, all the while weighted down. I would continue to use Identify and would finally get a few more knowledge skills. One for birds, one for lizards and one for bugs, the only animal inhabitants of the island.

Whenever I ran out of stamina I would then craft a few more things, or try and sneak up on an Onza. At around noon I would swim in the ocean, looking for sunken treasures and pearl filled clams, though I never found any. I would hunt for fish and whenever exhaustion crept up on me, drift deep under the surface staring at the sunlight shimmering far above me.

A couple of hours later would find me once more on the beach, trying to make fire, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, though thanks to a new skill called Basic Survival more and more often. Then I would try to make what edible fish, clams and plants I found more palatable but most things tasted like ash in my mouth, either a results of my reduced senses or my inability to not burn food on a fire. Which gave me a new skill called Basic Cooking,

Whenever the stars then rose in the sky I would once more greet them like a long missed friend and eagerly find their embrace.

And the next day I would repeat it all over again.

* * *

Only a few things stood out in those days.

For one, I finally figured out how to go to sleep, something that had become impossible for me, since I never grew physically tired, no matter how long I stayed awake. The only source of rest for my weary mind was the stargazing that allowed me to enter a dreamlike state where my thoughts could rest, even if I always stayed one some level aware of my body.

It was when I had tired from always sitting on the beach at night and decided to use my well trained basket weaving skills to create myself a hammock. Which, after I completed it after a couple of tries, I proceeded to string between two tall trees with excellent line of sight to the setting sun and the night sky.

Once strung up, whenever I laid down on the hammock a small window would open in front of me asking if I wanted to sleep and for how long.

I could lay down on it without using that prompt, but in that case I would never fall asleep but would still be able to use stargazing. If I used it on the other hand, both body and mind would suddenly grow extremely tired and I would fall asleep within a minute. And as it turned out I was capable of rapid healing whenever I was asleep, though not instantly and completely.

One of the reasons I was so happy that I could finally sleep was that I managed to critically injure myself.

As I found out, while using explosives under water is indeed quite useful for fishing, it is also quite dangerous for the fisher, if he or she is under water when they set off said explosive.

What happened was at first simple curiosity. I wanted to train explosion pulse, but I did not want to risk my favorite weapon for that training, since channeling aura through the spear would damage it. On the other hand my reach with that skill on that low level was quite minimal, so I really had no other choice then to use it up close and personal. Now the problem was that using that skill on, say trees and shrubs and water did not really give me any xp for it. I had to use it on something living. Now, I might have been able to use it on a Grimm, especially if I used the spear, but the likelihood of the Grimm dying in the first attack was quite small, and the likelihood of me dying in retaliation was quite high. So I decided to use it under water, since I could dimly remember that explosions were very effective at killing fish and by my recon the more I killed with a single attack the more xp I should get.

As it turns out I was not wrong. Setting off the attack in close distance to a reef full of fish did indeed grant me a lot of xp, more than enough for an entire skill level with that single use.

Lucky for my I had not used my spear for the explosion pulse, which quite likely saved my life considering that even without supercharging the attack the explosion managed to make massive damage. With the spear it would probably have ripped me apart.

Without it I merely lost more than one third of my hp at once and incurred some critical injuries in the form of burst eardrums, shredded lungs and ripped intestines. Oh and the hand from which I fired the explosion pulse was of course nearly ripped off, the fingers mangled, the flesh almost boiled from the heat.

I was quite in a lot of pain at that point, heavily disoriented and could not tell up from down. If I had had to breath, there is no chance I would have survived that. Either the water of the ocean would have drowned me, or the blood that slowly filled my lungs would have finished me off.

Now, I was leaking a lot of glowing red blood into the water at that point and while most animals would not attack a Grimm, even a bleeding one, there was always a chance for a blood frenzy or something like that. And in that state there was very little chance of me successfully defending myself against anything larger than a bass.

I am not quite sure how long it took me to the beach, or if something did in fact attack me since me memories are somewhat hazy, presumably from a combination of pain and blood loss but I did eventually made it back to my hammock, even if I did lose a few hours and about half of my remaining hp on the way there.

As it turns out, bleeding wounds especially ones incurred through a critical hit are in fact capable of killing me without adequate treatment. Of course, since the injuries were internal there was no way for me to treat them and even though my aura did its best to heal me, it could merely keep death away a little longer, the damage too extensive and the bleeding too strong.

It was at that point where my hammock came into play, for even through the haze of pain I remembered one thing quite clearly, since it was the only thing I had concentrated on.

 _The Character has a Body that acts like a Video Game Character. He loses his Need for Sustenance and Sleep. He also heals faster by Sleeping and consuming various Foods. He also gains the ability to heal completely from any Non-Fatal Wound or Injury._

I am not sure how I managed to make it into my hammock but I do remember tipping in some number and then confirming it. And as I quickly drifted away to sleep, my body relaxed since I knew instinctively that wounds like these would not kill me while I was sleeping. My body was ultimately that of a game, and no character in a game would ever die in his sleep.

* * *

That night was the first time that I dreamed since arriving in that world.

 _A dusty old ruin of a city. Above me a sky filled with alien stars, and the burning light of the hateful daystar scorching what water my body held, until it was nothing more than a shambling dried out husk._

 _Beyond the unseen limits of the city stretches forth a desert reaching until the end of night, that wall of blackness were the world once ended and shall begin again._

 _My slow, stumbling steps lead me to the grand ruin in the center of that sand swept old city. The streets crumbling to dust under the weight of all the passed ages, the walls and towers shattered and burst under the pressure of time and ennui._

 _I finally come to rest at the foot of a great stairwell, the stones cracked and withered, but still standing strong, unlike anything else in this cursed, forgotten city._

 _It seems like ages pass as I stand in front of those grand old stairs, each step reaching higher than my chest, crocked and curved in ways that suggest no mortal tool was used in carving them from unliving stone._

 _The travel up the stairs takes longer and longer, but the light never fades and the stars are always judging. Until the climb finally reaches its apex and my faded husk comes to rest at the top of the stairs in front of a great throne, carved from titanic bones of long forgotten beasts._

Waking up was a rapid process. The last vestiges of sleep and dreams fell away quickly, leaving only vague discomfort and a faint memory.

As it turned out sleeping for somewhere around 12 hours had mostly healed me, even if a quick look at my character sheet revealed to me that some damage still remained in the form of a temporary status effect called "Weakened".

 **Weakened**

 _The Character has gotten heavily injured and even though the original wound has healed, it has left its traces on the character. The length and intensity of the effect depend of the wound that created it. Over time the effect will diminish and ultimately disappear._

 _Effect:_

 _-20% Body attributes_

 _-50% Sp_

 _-50% Sp regeneration_

 _-20% Hp_

 _-20% HP regeneration_

 _Time until first reduction: 9h 36min  
_

The pain of the injuries I had gotten still lingered, but became easier and easier to ignore over time. The first hour or so after waking was spent mostly making sure that I had lost nothing of importance and that no permanent damage had been incurred.

I did get a new skill out of everything, called Basic Aura Healing, which governed my auras ability to heal myself and should eventually even enable me to heal others, if I were so inclined. Apart from that, the only thing I lost was more or less every consumable that I had had in my inventory.

It seemed that even in my injured stupor I was still capable of eating, which considering the effect consumables could have on my health, seemed to at least have prolonged my bleeding to death.

Interestingly enough, these reductions in my attributes had very little effect on my actual training. While my body had indeed been weakened along with my stamina and health, that did not diminish the experience I got from simple training. Mostly because I did not get all that many points in the first place.

Apart from that little shake up the days were spent in a pleasant monotony. Each day bleeding into the other, with only small differences breaking the flow. Some spear training here, some skill gain there, finally a level up, since it turned out that even animals gave experience points, if not all that many. The gained attribute points were of course distributed on Aura, since that was the attribute whose skills were the hardest and slowest for me to train, and the more Aura I had, the more I regenerated, and the longer I could train.

* * *

The past two weeks had seen an enormous change in me.

My body had grown so much stronger compared to what it was when I arrived. I felt and looked different. I had grown more than twice as strong and almost three times as tough. But I felt that the greatest change came from my Intelligence and my Senses. I had not grown any wiser but I could certainly think faster now, keep more information in my head at the same time and got a much clearer image through the sub vocal use of Identify. It was the same with my senses. While the slow growth was not that noticeable while it happened, as soon as I took a moment to think back I realized how much more I could hear and see now. And not only that but all my senses had grown stronger, sometimes in ways not immediately obvious.

But, for all my happiness about my new found strength, I still knew that I was pitifully weak compared to other Grimm out there, and I could already feel myself slowing down, taking longer and longer to gain single skill level, and with every skill level only giving a tiny bonus I could feel myself soon reaching the point of diminishing returns.

* * *

 **AN: Well, as always read and review. (Or not, your choice ;) )**


	13. A Fools Quest?

**AN: IT`S ALIVE! Or so they say. This chapter fought me every step of the way. Blood, sweat and tears were shed trying to bring this to fruition. (Ok, thats a little melodramatic. I did not in fact bleed and I only cried on the inside. But I did in fact sweat, a lot. Though that's probably more due to the weather.)**

 **Anyway, I have finally finished this chapter, and even though I am not entirely satisfied with it, it shall have to do. As always I rejiggered the Character document stuff, for both the MC and the Grimm, in this case I hope I finally have the final form of the document, but I'm not exactly counting on it. I have also started editing the earlier chapters for some inconsistencies with the backgroundstuff. Mostly just the way Skills are written down, but finishing that will take quite a while longer.**

 **Oh, and one more thing, in the last part of the chapter I tried to write something from the perspective of a different Character, and I hope I kinda gave it a somewhat different voice compared to the rest. If not, I am as always open to suggestion.**

* * *

 _There are many theories over the cause of the Faunus Rebellion, or Faunus Rights Revolution as it is more politely called nowadays. Sure, we know that they stem from the general mistreatment of Faunus at the hands of the Majority, but what precisely brought the cauldron of resentment and hatred to the boil?_

 _The answers as always in history are not so easily found. But one can assume that the revolution kicked off at several places at once though the exact date is hard to find, thanks to the sabotage of the CCT through several disgruntled Faunus members of the Janitorial staff, we can make some educated guesses. We know that in the Year of 60 p.V. at around January the 15th more precisely between the 13th and the 17th, several major sabotage actions were concluded which lead to the closure of 6 of the major SDC mines and factory's. But it was of course not just the Schnee Dust Company that nearly faltered under the constant pressure and sabotage of the revolutionaries in the coming years. More than 15 minor and major companies went under during that time. Some of them due to sabotage of vital company assets, others due the death of staff members and some simply went broke under the strain of trying to keep the economy afloat during this time of crises and civil unrest._

 _One also has to remember the fact that Grimm attacks got to an all time high, incited by the fear and panic created amongst the average populace. It was in this way that communication and transport between the kingdoms almost broke apart in the years of 60 up to and including the year of 64, whose autumn saw the official signing of the Faunus Rights Declaration by all four major Kingdoms._

* * *

I was finally broken out of my training montage by the arrival of a massive tropical storm. It began with a slowly darkening horizon and continued into a black line of clouds stretching from one end of the world to the other, or so it seemed.

The first thing I noticed about the not actually all that sudden change in the weather were the cold and harsh winds, where there used to be warm and mellow ones. As the daylight grew dim I stopped in my current morning activity's of some light running in the jungle and made my way to the beach to have a better look at the weather.

"Great, when it rains it pours..." Slowly divesting myself of the primitive backpack that I had fashioned I took a look at the horizon.

Slowly narrowing my eyes I stared at the approaching darkness.

"Now what is that?"

As the storm grew closer and closer I could see a small silvery spark drifting, dancing in front of the oncoming weather front. My attention focusing on the object revealed its nature and a quick use of Identify showed me more.

 **Schnee Dust Company All Terrain Freighter "Air Turtle 114"**

 _Quality: Damn Good_

 _Length: 32.76 m_

 _Width: 7.34 m_

 _Height: 4.54 m_

 _Weight: 189.34 t_

 _Description: An solidly build airship capable of transporting goods and personal across the world. It can both land and lift from sea and ground and has enough space for 68 seats including pilots. It additionally has a pure freight compartment capable of holding 2x IDE Cargo Containers. It can also be refitted for pure freight transport, in which case it can hold up to 4x IDE Cargo Containers with an additional 12 Seats including Pilots._

 _History: The Airturtle 114 is a well maintained freighter that has been build and owned by the SDC for over 5 years now. Top of the line it transports personal and important freight across all SDC holdings from the far frozen north of Atlas to the southern reaches of Vacuo and Vale._

 _In the last few months it has been repeatedly used to transport Faunus from various places in Atlas to various work camps all around the globe. Most of those stationed around SDC Dust-mines._

"Interesting..."

Looking at that airship tumbling in the heavy storm winds, I started to think.

 _This could be my first contact with the people of Remnant. And of course its a crashing airship, what else could it be? Well, I suppose it could have been a shipwreck of the swimming kind._

From the looks of it the ship would not last much longer, though it fought bravely, every dip brought it closer and closer to the surface of the water and the smoking engines revealed enough damage to make it unlikely for the airship to reach land before hitting the waves. And they were going to come down mere miles away from the shore.

However, the waters were infested with Grimm and while I was not capable of feeling emotions from that far away, I was certain that other Grimm did not have that problem and were already swarming towards the flying vehicle. That and the heavy waves would make any survival almost impossible. For while I would have no problem with the heavy waves and the Grimm, I was pretty much certain that the same could not be said for whoever was on that ship.

Then again, maybe I was wrong and there were some extraordinary people on board that airship, for whom an ocean in a tropical storm, filled with Grimm large enough to swallow several people at once without even trying was nothing more than an afternoon dip in the pool.

No, my options were to either swim out there to try and save people from drowning, while still leaving the Grimm as a very threatening problem, or just staying on land and letting them get eaten or drown and to plunder the wreckage as soon as the weather cleared again.

But in the end, the choice was not truly a choice at all. I did not come here to sit on my butt and let the world pass me by, not when it presented such an excellent opportunity to myself.

"Nothing to it then, Time to try and save the day."

 **Congratulations! You have received a new Quest!**

 _A Fools Trial (Part 1)_

 _Will you try and save these pitiful mortals, or will you let nature run its course? The choice may be up to you, but not necessarily the outcome._

 _Accept quest?_

 _ **YES/NO**_

* * *

I had gotten my first quest in the exact moment that I decided to try and reach the airship. Which of course blocked me from actually taking a swim until I had either read and closed the window, or simply ignored it and walked around. But since it had been a golden bordered window which usually indicated something more important than a leveled skill, I read it and as soon as I pressed Yes I got another smaller info window.

 _Questmarker updated_

And interestingly enough, as soon as that happened I got a very peculiar feeling. Not only could I take a look on my Minimap to simply see the questmarker but I could actually feel it. When I concentrated in the same way that I could for Identify and Tracking I gained a sort of sense where I head to go. It felt somewhat like an extension of proprioception. In the same way that I could tell where my nose was in relation to my hand, or my foot in relation to my head, I could tell where my questobjective was in relation to myself.

I could not put that in any concrete numbers unless I looked on the map, but I had the feeling that that would change, given time and more skill levels.

So with a clear goal in mind I started to swim out onto the ocean, against heavy waves and strong winds, which soon made me very thankful once again for the fact that I did not actually need to breath. And also that my swimming speed had so dramatically increased over the last month. But still it was not enough to make it to the ship before it crashed down and with the storm covering everything in darkness it was mostly my quest sense that allowed me to find the ship.

* * *

The first thing I did upon reaching within about a hundred and fifty meters or so of the crash site was to stretch my senses to their limits, both supernatural and not. And that almost became my undoing. I had of course noticed the sheer amount of Grimm in the surrounding waters and I knew intellectually that I was capable of feeling emotions, but until that point I had not truly understood what that empathy meant.

So close to these struggling people I could feel their terror and their fear, their anguish akin to the mouthwatering flavor of slowly roasting meat or perhaps like the most exquisite sweet one could imagine?

Their emotions shot through me like a lightning-bolt, almost circumventing my conscious mind and priming my body for one thing only. Slaughter.

My first instinct upon arrival, the thing my Body told my Mind and my Soul, the one thing that I felt down to my very core I should do? KILL.

As I perceived the slowly sinking airship, these mere remnants of survivors, fighting for their lives amongst floating wreckage and punctured lifeboats, there was nothing else within me. No other instinct. No other drive. Just the almost overwhelming urge to kill. But only almost.

I was still myself, still ruler of my domain, still in control of my body. But it was an nigh physical pain to refrain from joining in the slaughter. Precious time was lost to me to rein in my instincts. Seeing these Humans and Faunus in front of me, feeling their pain and suffering, their deaths by no means fast, their blood so thick in the water and the air that even I could smell and taste it, only served in enticing these murderous impulses.

But one thing holding me back more than any notion of morality was the simple fact that I had never felt anything like this before. Not in these brief few weeks on my island and never in that nebulous memory.

Of course there had been times when I had been angry beyond almost any control, times when only the thought of punishment stopped me from bringing death to those who earned my ire. But never had I felt anything like that craving. That compulsion to kill.

And it was that knowledge that ultimately stopped me from giving in to my instinct. The knowledge that none of these people had done anything against me. There was no logical nor emotional reason for me to try and kill them.

This contemplation though took time, time that the numerous Grimm used to great effect in slowly decreasing the numbers of survivors, piece by piece. In most cases quite literally.

But just as there was no real reason for me to kill them, I found it very hard to think of a reason as to why I should save them.

But still, I swam out there to at least try and do my best and so I did.

I first started out using Domination but with very little effect, doing nothing more than momentarily irritating the Grimm. Alas, a quick look at their stats as a reminder told me exactly why trying anything else would be suicide.

 _ **Megalodon**_

 _Race: Grimm; Megalodon_

 _Size: 20,6m_

 _Weight: Heavy 100t_

 _Level:16_

 _Age:21_

 _DR: 4586,78_

 _HP: 13218_

 _ **Advantages/Disadvantages:**_

 _Ageless Growth, Acute Senses (Smell), Low-Level Light Vision, Supernatural Sense (Empathy), Enhanced Resistance (Poison), Enhanced Resistance (Pain), Enhanced Resistance (Injury), Enhanced Resistance (Sickness), Enhanced Regeneration, Transcendent Dexterity, Berserker Rage, Murderous Instinct, Hated by Humanity, Soul-less Monstrosity_

 _ **Notable Skills:**_

 _Ability (Crushing Blow, Basic) Level 34, Animal (Natural Armor) Level 68, Animal (Natural Weapons) Level 87, Athletics (Swimming, Basic) Level 100, Athletics (Swimming, Intermediate) Level 46, Espionage (Vigilance, Basic) Level 68, Grimm (Deep Diving, Basic) Level 88, Grimm (Enhanced Injury Resistance, Basic) Level 57, Grimm (Enhanced Pain Resistance, Basic) Level 25, Grimm (Enhanced Poison Resistance, Basic) Level 34, Grimm (Enhanced Regeneration, Basic) Level 84, Grimm (Sense Emotions, Basic) Level 58, Hunting (Tracking, Basic) Level 84_

 _ **Basic Attributes**_

 _ **Body:**_

 _Brawns = 214,27_

 _Toughness = 1324,84_

 _Nimbleness = 285,77_

 _ **Mind:**_

 _Brains = 56,2_

 _Charms = 22_

 _Noticing = 87_

 _ **Soul:**_

 _Aura = 00 (L)_

 _Luck = 00 (L)_

 _Netherness = 00 (L)_

 _ **Health Points** **(Tx10)** **:** 13218,4 HP_

 _ **HP Regeneration** **(T + 252% in 24h)** **:** 4652,88 HP Reg._

 _ **Stamina Points** **(T + 384% x10)** **:** 63977,06 SP_

 _ **SP Regeneration (T + 252% in 1m):** 4652,88 SP Reg._

 _ **Damage Resistance (Tx347%):** 4586,78 DR_

And that had been one of the Megalodon with middling size. There were three or four even larger than that.

And nothing I had would be able to meaningfully harm these gargantuan creatures. Even with my dust-infused spear, which`s use underwater was at best foolhardy, I would only be able to make a couple of hundred points of damage with a single attack. That in turn would of course mean my death, since I had no way of evading an attack by one of the aquatic Grimm due to the fact that they were a lot better at swimming than I was.

While I was in fact capable of dominating two smaller and younger Grimm that did absolutely nothing to even slow the slaughter created by the dozens of high leveled Grimm.

 **Spawn of the Leviathan**

 _Race: Grimm; Leviathan_

 _Size: 1,7m_

 _Weight: 38Kg_

 _Level:2_

 _Age:2_

 _DR: 112,53_

 _HP: 978,48_

 _ **Advantages/Disadvantages:**_

 _Ageless Growth, Acute Senses (Smell), Supernatural Sense (Empathy), Enhanced Resistance (Poison), Enhanced Resistance (Pain), Enhanced Resistance (Injury), Enhanced Resistance (Sickness), Enhanced Regeneration, Transcendent Vitality, Hardened Boneplates, Berserker Rage, Murderous Instinct, Hated by Humanity, Soul-less Monstrosity_

 _ **Notable Skills:**_

 _Ability (Crushing Blow, Basic) Level 6, Animal (Natural Armor) Level 8, Animal (Natural Weapons) Level 8, Athletics (Swimming, Basic) Level 25, Grimm (Deep Diving, Basic) Level 13, Grimm (Enhanced Injury Resistance, Basic) Level 13, Grimm (Enhanced Pain Resistance, Basic) Level 6, Grimm (Enhanced Regeneration, Basic) Level 8, Grimm (Sense Emotions, Basic) Level 6_

 _ **Basic Attributes**_

 _ **Body:**_

 _Brawns = 20,65_

 _Toughness = 97,85_

 _Nimbleness = 21,58_

 _ **Mind:**_

 _Brains = 5,2_

 _Charms = 3_

 _Noticing = 16,2_

 _ **Soul:**_

 _Aura = 00 (L)_

 _Luck = 00 (L)_

 _Netherness = 00 (L)_

 _ **Health Points** **(Tx10)** **:** 978,48 HP_

 _ **HP Regeneration** **(T + 24% in 24h)** **:** 121,33 HP Reg._

 _ **Stamina Points** **(T + 50% x10)** **:** 1467,72 SP_

 _ **SP Regeneration (T + 24% in 1m):** 121,33 SP Reg._

 _ **Damage Resistance (Tx115%):** 112,53 DR_

 _History:_

 _A spawn of the mighty Leviathan. This Grimm resembles in form most that of the ancient sea-scorpion, a heavy plated head, followed by many segments that taper off into a thin, barbed tail. It has many seemingly winged legs, whose precise number depend on the age of the Grimm. It's head has several specialized arms ranging from two heavy grabbing claws like a crab, to several smaller bladed arms leading to a mouth akin to a wood thresher, perfect for ripping, tearing and crushing._

 _These Grimm are only rarely a threat to the members of Humanity. Mostly because by the time they show up, everything interesting will have already been eaten by bigger and more dangerous Grimm. They are mostly dangerous because of what they represent, namely the fact that an ancient Leviathan is around, since one never goes without the other._

 _ **Gained a Level in Dominate**_

"Well, this sucks." Leaning back on my pressganged minions I thought about the situation.

There was nothing I could truly do. Getting the Attention of the Soldiers would undoubtedly end up with getting shot by them, considering their panicked state and my natural good looks. I could not attack the Grimm without risking almost certain death and I could not dominate the older Grimm like I could the young ones.

"And yet, this doesn't feel half bad."

As I drifted on the waves, making myself comfortable on one of my new pets, I found it harder and harder to even care in the first place.

"Not bad at all..." Languidly stretching out I watched the last struggling survivors being penned in by swarm tactics, the elder Grimm coordinating their attacks for maximum shock and terror.

"It could certainly be worse." A deep satisfied sigh made its way from between my lips.

A part of me, one that grew larger and larger over time, enjoyed basking in the sweet terror that came from the pain and misery of mortals. It is hard to explain how exactly it felt, though the memories of my last life suggest that it is somewhat like that first perfect high. That one shining moment that one tries to grasp again and again, only to get farther and farther away from it every time.

"For example, it could have been me amongst them." Shaking my Head I concentrated my attention on the last lonely surviving Soldier being slowly ripped apart. And while a part of me withdrew at the sight of this unspeakable carnage, another part of me rejoices. It feels like a new part, but at the same time, its like everything else about this Body, like it was there my whole Life, I just did not quite notice it until this point.

But just like that first perfect high so did this too end eventually. As the last survivor died in agony the Grimm started to drift back into the depth of the Ocean again. And while I watched the last of the ancient Grimm disappear, I felt somewhat strange. A disconcerting feeling of unrest was left, where there was an euphoric joy only minutes before. My instinct drove me to wander, to go and search. For what was obvious but I reined in my instincts once more. I had come here for two things, One was to try and save people and if I could not do that, than at least to plunder as much as possible and that was exactly what I would do.

 _ **You have gained a new Skill!**_

 _You have gained the skill Knowledge (Creatures of Grimm, Basic) due to observing a Grimm attack from start to finish. Those who know their Enemy and know themselves need not fear the outcome of a hundred Battles. Knowledge about the Grimm, how they act and how best to hurt them is one of the fundamental need to knows of any aspiring Hunter._

The wind and waves were still going heavy, lightning strikes hitting the ocean, the mighty storm passing only slowly.

None of that bothered me all that much though. I had little trouble keeping my position. And my senses, so much better than they used to be, served me well in gathering what drifting pieces of the crashed airship I could find. Slowly sinking luggage and bags filled with clothes were my first spoils, but more followed soon after.

I took my time gathering what things I could outside of the wreckage, since I knew that the ocean was not particularly deep here, so that even if the wreck were to sink to the bottom, I would still easily be capable of reaching it.

After I had gathered what pickings were drifting around the crash site I sorted quickly through my inventory, using my newly acquired seating accommodation for maximum comfort.

None of what I found was particularly useful, bits and pieces of broken body armor or weapons from fallen soldiers and various bags full of clothes ranging from soaked to soggy. The clothing, wet as it was, took about 80% of my entire Inventory weight, most of that water. In addition to that a couple of hundred Lien, with no where to actually use them.

* * *

 _ **Attention! The chosen Inventory action is currently not available.**_

 _You are lacking the necessary tools within your inventory to conduct the chosen action._

If someone had been able to see my face at that moment they would have undoubtedly seen it first light up like the sky on a clear morning, to only then see it darken to a mood very much like the storm howling about at that very moment.

When I had auto sorted the Inventory it automatically pushed all clothes into a category called "Dirty Clothing", which I wholeheartedly agreed with, considering that seawater was the least of the problems of some of those fabrics.

Upon choosing one of those piles it asked me if I wanted to automatically clean those clothes. Which in my mind would have also included removing the seawater in them.

So, happy as a clam I clicked yes, only to be informed that I was not quite that lucky. As if I needed a reminder of that.

However after a short but sweet session inventing new curse words I took a look at my seat and fought and subsequently lost, the urge to face palm. I was sitting on two crab like creatures capable of holding things in their crab arms. Not particularly gently, but good enough for a bag strap or four.

Having used my inventory to push a reasonable amount of clothes into bags I then loaded the crabs after some more or less gently persuasion using my awesome mind powers. Or so I liked to pretend at least. In truth those crabs were simply too stupid not to do what I told them to.

After loading my new pack mules I decided to finally dive down to the wreck, were there would surely be more for me to plunder and hopefully more useful things than some money that I could not buy anything with and some clothes that I did not need to wear.

After a short time diving I was pleasantly surprised however in seeing that the wreck had not sunken nearly as far as I expected and was in fact still fairly close to the surface, even though I had no Idea why, considering the sheer number of holes that the crash and subsequent Grimm attack left behind.

Having parked my minions in front of the biggest hole in the ship, I entered and a quick use of Identify inside revealed to me the reason for the slow sinking. Namely the fact that at least one of the G-Emission drives was still running at, at least a partial capacity. Also, the lights were still on, the emergency lights that is.

 _ **G-Emission Drive created Gravity field:**_

 _The G-Emission Drive is on of the leading examples of Human Ingenuity and along the World Wide Communications network one of the Reasons why Atlas is heralded as a Champion and Pioneer of technology._

 _A G-Emission Drive works by fusing several different types of dust together to create a highly unstable form of Gravity dust. Using that the Drive can create enough lift to offset a considerable amount of weight. This allows armor, weaponry and cargo on ships that would normally not be capable of carrying that much weight._

 _One of the smaller side effects of the G-Emission Drives is however that some people are especially responsive to the fluctuating Gravity field, which can lead to severe Airsickness._

 _However the G-Emission Drives create no Thrust, and so they are usually combined with a fuel efficient variant of the Mantle-Pulse Thrusters._

 _Of course, as all Dust-based Technology, the G-Emission Drives stop working once they leave the Atmosphere, rendering this method of reaching Space as useless as all others._

So all in all, that Airship really was solidly build and of a damn good quality. Considering what damage it had taken to this point and that it was still largely in one piece and still had enough juice running through it to reduce its mass. At least enough to slow its drifting to the point where it was still close to the surface more than an hour after the crash.

One thing was strange though, as I swam through the cramped and corpse filled interior of the airship, illuminated by the blood red emergency lights. Why did I not get a Quest actualization? After all, there was no one left alive, right?

Thinking about that for a few seconds I decided to proceed with the looting of the ship, but with more caution, trying my best to stretch out my Emotion sensing, regularly using Identify and generally being as Vigilant as I could be.

Alas, the only thing I was feeling was a vague sense of discomfort, though I could not tell wether it came from deeper inside the airship or simply from the fact that I was swimming through what was essentially the location of a Horrormovie. Though of course in this case it was I who was the monster, instead of the hunted.

There were quite a few things of interest inside of the airship, but since my Inventory space was quite finite I limited myself to sorting everything nonessential into bags to take them with me after I had finished looting everything not nailed down.

For the rest I would simply have to find a hammer or a pair of pliers.

* * *

It took me quite a while to go through the entire passenger part of the sunken airship. By the time I had finished it more than an hour had passed and I had to return to the outside several times to reaffirm my commands to my Pets.

The process of plundering was speed up considerably by the fact that I could simply stuff a corpse into my inventory and then pull said corpse out again, only without the clothing and personal items attached.

But it still took me a while to stuff every little thing inside that fairly chaotic compartment into my inventory to sort it into different bags and then pull it out again, but by the end of it I was fairly satisfied with my results.

I had cleaned the cabin by pushing whatever corpse I had finished with outside of the ship through one of the many holes, leaving behind in the end only the numerous wrecked chairs and the sorted luggage.

My loot included mostly a lot of Clothing in various States of repair, some children`s toys, some various ruined books and magazines, a lot of toothbrushes and toothpaste and other sanitary articles. And another couple of hundred Lien in various pockets and bags.

One of the things that became obvious to me after a while was just how little handling the corpses, most of which were in pretty bad shape due to the crash and subsequent Grimm attack, bothered me. In fact, there was only a small sense of accomplishment rising within me, as if after a job well done. That on the other hand did creep me out somewhat, but as before I had some trouble holding on to that.

Having finished with the passenger cabin I took what I cold carry, which due to the annoying rules my Inventory followed was not all that much, loaded up on my Grimm what they could carry, which was also not all that much, and started to make my way back to my island, in mind the fact that I would have to make my way back again several times.

It was when I arrived at the beach that I would realize exactly why the quest had not finished yet.

* * *

 **INTERLUDE:** Atlesian Specialist Gainsborough Grey

 **Impact: T-3h**

The low deep hum of the engines was only barely audible over the noise of dozens of people stuffed into a too small space. The smell of humanity in all its splendor filled the expansive cabin of the airship.

No relaxed laughter could be heard, no exited chatter, just small whispers and the sound of almost palpable fear.

Outside the thick armored hull, barely visible through the armored shutters on the windows, the horizon was slowly darkening, a tropical storm approaching with alarming speed.

Every available seat of the airship was filled with Faunus, ranging from the old and weary to the young and excited. One could make the mistake and believe this to be just an ordinary flight between the kingdoms, but only on the barest of first glances. For the numerous soldiers and the reinforced doors between the Passenger and the Crew cabins proved this to be more akin to a Prisoner transport, this impression only barely lessened by the lack of visible chains on the Faunus wayfarers.

The first thing one noticed upon seeing Gainsborough Grey would probably be his mediocrity, if one were to notice him at all. From the top of his head to his boots, everything about him seemed unintrusive and oblique.

His hair was a deep brown cut short at the temples and gelled back on the top. His face not particularly ugly or pretty, mostly held in a look of disinterest if standing guard, like he was doing right now.

His physique was slim and tall, but neither extraordinarily tall, nor especially slim.

His clothing consisted of a light gray uniform jacket in the typical style of an Atlesian Special Operative, accompanied by equally gray pants in a fitting style. The only thing standing out about that outfit were the colorful trims on the jacket and the symbol seen on the left side of both jacket and pants, consisting of a silver hollow circle containing several smaller circles in several colors entwined with each other.

His accessories consisted of several dark gray belts with custom made belt pockets of a slightly darker color than the rest of his ensemble.

His noticeable weapons consisted of two holsters, one on each leg, containing a pair of swords, whose triggers revealed their nature as mechashift weaponry.

 _What am I even doing here?_

A slow methodical movement released a weight on a string, rotating around a fixed centerpoint. Counterweights and a keen engineering ensuring a smooth flow and perfect control. A quick movement of the wrist and the comfortable weight was back in the hand, only to be released with the same smooth movement. The action methodical, almost mechanical, requiring no deeper thought, being pure reflex at this point.

 _I made it through the academy in one piece, now why the hell did I think this was a good idea again?_

His eyes staring at no specific point in space for a while, at no point stopping either his musing or his movement. His breathing slow and controlled, not even a single twitch betraying the turmoil within. His face the image of boredom.

 _I can smell the fear in the air, oily and raw, it is thick enough to choke on. Its a wonder we were not attacked more often. The Faunus Transports must seem like flying food transporter to the Grimm, at least the reports about lost ships would suggest that. But... I don't think everything is as it seems._

"Oy, Grey!"

A rough voice called him out of his thoughts.

"The LT wants to speak to you."

A quick movement snapped the yoyo back into his hands and from there into his pockets.

"What about?"

Grey's voice was in many aspects like his face, unremarkable, forgettable.

"No idea, just told me to get you."

The speaker was in many ways a typical Soldier of Atlas. Broad shouldered, silver and grey Combat armor, side weapon and Rifle. His head hidden behind a silver helmet and dark face plate.

A soft sigh, "very well."

A last look across the crowded cabin and his steps led him through a reinforced door into the crewed part of the airship.

 **Impact: T-1h**

The howling of the storm had grown stronger over the past half hour, to the point where barely anything else could be heard. Throwing the ship back and forth the ship had become a plaything of the elements. The engines strained to the limits in the faint hope of outrunning the worst of the storm.

The air once only thick with the smell of fear had become nearly unbreathable, the filtration units laboring to their limits and yet failing to clean the air from the smell of countless Faunus growing sick from the erratic movements of the airship.

 _A Labor camp? That's what I am meant to protect? Has command lost their minds? It was bad enough thinking I had to help the Forced Resettlement of Menagerie, but an SDC Mining camp?_

Grey`s thoughts were a tumbled mess, making connections between half-remembered facts and never truly believed Rumors. But still, his face never showed a Trace of the inner turmoil, cool and collected as always, any outside observers would have at best noticed his fists balling, but would have likely attributed that towards nervousness considering the possible impending crash, alas the state of the airship was not currently on his mind.

 _That is not what I trained all those years for. I wanted to protect Humanity, not serve as a Jailer for the innocent. A Slaver at best. Though that certainly explains the numbers of vanished ships and how little command seemed to care about that. Of course they did not care that ships vanished, because they knew exactly what happened to them. Written off to hide the fact that a good fourth of all Faunus destined for Menagerie landed in FUCKING LABOR CAMPS!_

A faint gnashing of Teeth could have been observed, had any one been paying an inordinate amount of attention.

Slowly Grey`s Eyes wandered across his so called comrades of the Atlesian Military. Most of them nervous, some of them even green, joining the ranks of most of the passengers and a few of the SDC Aircrew in growing sick from the continuing roller-coaster movements of the ship.

Ears sharpened by Years of listening into conversations that they had no business hearing, overheard bits and pieces of murmurs and small talk amongst those not too nervous to talk at all. There was no outright fear amongst the Crew and Soldiers, not yet but that would come soon enough if the ship did not manage to outrun the storm.

Apart from that nervousness many a harsh and cruel remark could be heard pointed towards to involuntary travelers in the passenger cabin.

A long time ago these remarks would have brought his Temper to boil and lead to a brawl or three, but that was many years ago and he learnt much of self-control in the time between. Injustice, Betrayal and the absolute will to survive saw to that.

 **Impact: T-54s**

Engines finally giving up. Lightning strikes burning out what overworking had not already accomplished. The G-emission drives disrupted by unknown interference, one failing completely the other merely reduced in function, still not enough to keep the ship in the air. Just enough to make the crash less deadly.

A final Message from the Captain, "Prepare for Impact!"

Then, contact, noise, darkness, screams and terror and finally only the howling of the storm and the silence of the deep dark Ocean.

 **Post Impact:**

 _Once more not strong enough. Once again too weak to protect those he wanted to._

 _Rage boils in his veins like Ice, barely colder than the rain cooled waters of the ocean._

 _The way to the coast of the next island is far and any fight with a Grimm would make survival nearly impossible._

 _Once again there is no other choice but to go. Run. Hide. To survive another day._

 _Once again emotion cannot be let out, Rage suppressed, Anger controlled, Grief canceled until such time were it was safe to let go._

 _The ocean pulls with all its might, nearly overwhelming these weary bones. But the will proves stronger._

 _He would survive. There was nothing else._

 _Survival, no matter what._

* * *

 **AN: Well, and that was that I guess. For now. Anyway, read and review as always. Until the next Time.**


	14. A Fools Trial

**AN: So, since I took so long on the last chapter, here is the next one considerably faster. Also, one Request from me, if you have Ideas for: Ability's, Skills, Advantages and Disadvantages, Achievements, Titles, stuff that could fit into the Background of RWBY, combined with a decidedly Mythos-type of Flavour, I would be more than glad for anything that you might be willing to share with me.**

 **As always, read and review. :)**

 **EDIT: Also, this site eats part of my formatting, and a couple of things that I thought looked good. Which is annoying. But oh well. Guess I just have to live with that. ;(  
**

* * *

 _From there I saw beginnings of time and endings, lasting until that final Night, when that last spark of Light faded, extinguished one more time, by the passage of the ages._

 _That moment, when there was only the ever crushing weight of the outer darkness pushing in upon that ever shrinking space._

 _I waited there, as I always have and always will._

 _From one end to the next and that timeless moment in between._

 _I waited there for you, but you never came._

 _I told you that I would wait forever._

 _And I did._

 _But you never came._

 _And so I alone remained._

 _And when I awoke from that deepest slumber, lifted from those deepest shores of dreaming Sea, there I found you._

 _Not within that endless space, that infinite time, where darkness reins supreme and nothing that exists is real, and everything that is not real exists._

 _No, I did not find you there._

 _Instead I found you within that realm of light and life and oh so shortened time, that one may call alive._

 _But even as I embraced you, full of tears and unforgotten fears, a shard of me had still remained, lost upon that darkened Place._

 _From a collection of Poems titled "Where do we go when we dream?"_

 _Can also be found in the collection titled: "If Aura is the Light of our Soul, then what is the Darkness?"_

* * *

The Storm raging in the sky, sand and saltwater in the air, the trees of the island bowing to the wind. Still it was dark, the sand hidden behind a wall of blackness, with only the barest hint of daylight on the horizon.

But still there seemed to be a curious silence on that stretch of beach. A small stretch of beach, something one could easily walk across with but a few strides.

And yet there seemed to be a gulf dividing it, for all that it seemed impossible to cross.

On one side of the beach there was a Man, drenched in seawater, his once pristine Uniform crumbled, dirtied and soaked to the bone with seawater and barely washed out blood. His hair plastered to his head and in his face an icy countenance of a barely restrained Maelstrom of emotions.

On the other side a woman, or perhaps a girl, it was hard to tell, stark naked, skin chalk white, with veins filled with glowing red shining from beneath. Her body passably human, at least on first sight, all the things one would expect, and a few more one wouldn't. The right number of limbs, toes and fingers. But the proportions were somewhat off, not quite right, black claws were nails should be. Pitch-black feathers on her head where hair should be.

And oh, the face.

Like an artist who tried to create a human face, but could not quite remember how one was supposed to look like. The features too sharp, the nose just a tad too wide and seemingly not quite were it was supposed to be. On her brow a heavy horn-plate, inlaid with spiraling lines in red, with one curving horn on each temple, and two spiking up on the top.

The only thing truly human about her are her eyes, for all that the face they are sitting in is inhuman, they alone are not. But perhaps that makes it even worse. A pair of human eyes imprisoned in the mask of a puppet, a beast more than anything else. Yes, perhaps that is the worst. For without those eyes one could easily convince themselves that it is nothing but a bad imitation, a puppet or a camouflaged beast that one is looking at. But those eyes cannot quite lie. There is Intelligence behind them, character, a person. And that makes everything else so much worse.

There is silence then, between the two of them when their eyes first meet. What are their thoughts, one wonders. What must they think of such an unlikely meeting, in such an unlikely place?

As the weight of the stillness between the two of them seems to become unbearable it is finally broken, not by one of the two, but by an deep growl and a sudden explosive motion from the jungle.

A sleek, white and black Beast jumps from the jungle towards the beach. The motion takes less then a second, but by the time the Beast arrives within reach of the Human Huntsman, it is already too late for it.

Two swords had been pulled from their sheaths and plunged deep into the most vulnerable parts of the beast, slipping in between plates of armor directly into the core that is the heart of every Grimm.

However, something about the attack seemed off, like the swords did not cross the intervening space, but seem to merely appear within their targets, damage already done, only to be brought in a ready position. Attention once again put upon that strange girl standing not that far away from him.

Now, something in the atmosphere between the two of them has changed.

* * *

 _ **A Fools Trial, Part One finished.**_

 _You have spent a token effort of saving the survivors of the crashed airship, but have ultimately let nature run its course._

 _Quest actualized._

 _ **A Fools Trial, Part Two started.**_

 _You have met the lonely survivor of that fateful crash. Where will your choices lead you now?_

Heavy rain hammered on my head and drowned even the noise of the raging winds around me.

In front of me a sight I had not expected, but probably should have. A Human, probably, maybe a Faunus, Huntsmen. One capable of easily dispatching an Onza.

Many thoughts went through my head as I stared at him, and he back at me.

I can not say that I was afraid at that moment, merely a curious kind of calm within me. The same kind of feeling that I had when I met that Onza on the beach, something that seemed to have been so long ago now.

Avoiding any rapid movement I slowly raised my hands in the air, trying to prevent him from getting trigger happy.

Any true use of Identify would probably look off to him, and so I had to do with merely concentrating really hard on him. Alas, I did not really find out all that much.

I could feel that he was substantially stronger than me and that he was highly agitated. Many conflicting emotions within him that I could neither name nor truly identify. Too many of them at the same time.

Curiously, I did not feel attracted to his negative emotions at the moment, of which there were quite a few within him. However, it was somehow like listening in to a room with thick walls, behind which are played loud music. You might be able to tell that there is music, and that it is loud, but dampened by the walls, you can not listen in from very far away before it becomes unnoticeable.

I could also tell that he was not entirely healthy, that something was wrong with his body, but could not tell quite what it was.

But no matter, he had not attacked me yet and trying to prevent that from happening I tried talking with him. To my shame I could not remember wether the Soldiers that died on the crashed ships had screamed in a Language I spoke, too distracted with their emotions as I had been.

"Can you understand me?"

"Garble. Garble." ( _Did you just say something?)_

His voice was barely audible over the noise of the rains and the wind. However, it was not the wind or the rains that prevented me from understanding him, but the simple fact that I could not understand a single word of what he said. The language he spoke was completely unfamiliar to me.

"Great. I don't understand a single thing." My Inflection was deadpan and slightly snarky. Shoulders slumping I started to think about what I should do now.

He just blinked a couple of times, shrugged his shoulders and seemed to relax, but did not stop watching me.

Not really knowing what to do I decided that retreating might be the best option for now.

So, thinking of that I moved backwards towards the ocean, slowly, so as to not spoke the nervous Huntsman.

Upon noticing my movements he raises his swords slightly. Taking that as my cue to stop I halted my movement.

"Garble." ( _Stop.)_

"That probably means to stop. I guess."

"Garble. Garble." ( _Move away from the water. Whatever you are.)_

Upon ushering these words, of which I still did not understand a single thing, he used one of his swords to point at me and then towards the tree line.

I was still not truly nervous at that point, but I was cognizant of the fact that he was pointing two loaded guns at me, in the form of his gunblades, or whatever they were.

So, Hands still raised I pointed towards myself, then towards the treeline, all the while attempting to form a questioning facial expression. Whether I succeeded at that or not he nodded and pointed towards the trees again.

So, I nodded back, somewhat happy that at least that expression was the same.

It was around that time that I remembered that my minions were still waiting for me. Only a couple of meters away from the shoreline, within the ocean. Including the bags full of clothing, which were surely not getting any drier in the water.

As I suddenly stopped he tensed up in turn and I slowly twisted towards him and pointed towards the beach. The only reaction to that was to grab his swords slightly tighter and his emotions becoming somewhat more focused, less jumbled together.

I waves my still raised hands somewhat vaguely in the direction of the ocean, while at the same time pulling at the connection I had to my minions. After a couple of metaphysical pulls they finally understood what I wanted and began to crawl unto the shore. Ever so slowly. They were very clumsy outside the water, their legs clearly not made for the land. In their crab arms the bags that I had filled with the clothes from the wreck.

The Huntsman froze upon beholding that sight. Clearly he had not expected two oversized aquatic Grimm to crawl ashore, with several Bags clutched in their arms. But then again, who would have?

Still, he showed no outwards signs of surprise, only his emotions offered the slightest hint towards

The Leviathan spawn crawled slowly towards me and ultimately deposited the bags at my feet. That done they realized the existence of the human that was only a few meters away from them and began crawling towards him as fast as they could. Which was about as fast as one would expect from a purely aquatic creature.

As I watched the slowly crawling crabs I tried to think of a way to make it clear that I was not on the side of the Grimm. Whether that was the truth or not, was not particularly important. Only the fact that I would not get killed by a Huntsman who thinks I'm a Grimm.

I then proceeded to point at the slowly decaying Onza and make some stabbing motions towards the spawn, point at him and then back at the spawn.

His reaction was the raising of a single eyebrow and a look at the Grimm that are somewhat futilely crawling in his direction all the while making hissing noises.

"Garble. Garble." ( _Do you want me to shoot them or something?)_

He makes a few pointing gestures with one sword at the spawn while keeping the other one at his side.

I let out a deep sigh, "trying to communicate without understanding each other is really such a huge bother."

I point at the slowly dissipating Onza again, then at him and then back at the spawn. Meanwhile I nod, trying to convey my approval.

A sigh later and a staccato of load noises echoed across the beach. A few hits later and the Leviathan Spawn expire, their body's broken open under the heavy impact of dust bullets, their glowing red blood, incidentally the exact same shade as mine, spraying across the beach, only to be washed away by the rain before it can even start to evaporate.

"My, my. You are quite the paranoid Guy, aren't you?"

 _(He is a very careful guy. He never lost sight of me, even while firing at my minions.)_

I then proceeded to nod at him a few times, picked up the bags and staredt walking towards my camp, for lack of any better destination.

Well, more like toddle towards that, considering that all the bags together weighted at least thrice of what I did, and went over my weight capacity more than four times. Which apart from draining my stamina within minutes also made me accrue exhaustion.

 _ **Attention! You have become exhausted.**_

 _You have strained yourself beyond your limits. While your are exhausted your Body Attributes are reduced and your SP and SP Regeneration are reduced even further. Additional exhaustion will make the effect worse. Beware, for extreme exhaustion can lead to bodily harm, up to and including crippling Injuries and Death._

 _Body: -10%_

 _SP: -20%_

 _SP Reg.: -20%_

Well, needless to say, it took me quite a while to make my way back to my camp. I was expecting another Onza attack or two, since they surely must have heard the gun shots, but apparently the noise of the storm must have drowned them out. And I did not count on their Emotions Sensing to notice him, since even I had some Problems and I was walking only a few meters away from him.

* * *

It felt weird being watched by someone so intensely. Though somewhat strangely perhaps I felt no apprehension for the fact that I was completely naked, merely some for the fact that the person sitting in front of me was perfectly capable of cutting me in half before I would even notice it.

The feeling that I had concerning my body, I would most likely compare it to being watched by some birds or dogs or any other kind of animal. It simply seemed that I did not consider the state or my clothing, more precisely the lack of any, worthy of any amount of attention.

It was simply the natural way things should be. And that did clash somewhat with the way things were in my memories but having had a month to get used to it I did not truly feel like I had to hide my looks from anyone. Well, apart from reasons of convinience of course. But it was a little late to hide my obviously non-human nature. Sadly.

Sitting on the ground I started to work on another basket, mostly as a way to keep my hands busy, giving myself time to think about the situation that I had found myself in.

I then used said motions to disguise my use of Identify and a quick look at my Character screen for comparison purposes.

 _ **Gainsborough Grey**_

 _Title: "Secret Agent Man"_

 _Race: Human ?_

 _Size: 1.84m_

 _Weight: 78.4_

 _Level:16_

 _Age:21_

 _AP: 685?_

 _HP: 406?_

 _ **Advantages/Disadvantages:**_

 _Enhanced Night Vision, Acute Senses (?), Will of the Downtrodden, Transcendent Aura, Amateur, Major Allergy (Fish), ?, ?._

 _ **Current Status Effects:**_

 _Reduced Senses (Balance): Compensated_

 _Allergic Reaction (Minor): -15% Body Attributes_

 _?_

 _ **Emotions:** (Empathy not high enough to discern Major Details)_

 _Agitated, ?_

 _ **Notable Skills:** (Identify not higher than Obfuscation of Target. Full Information not available)_

 _Ability (Piercing Thrust, Basic) Lvl?, Athletics (Endurance Running, Basic) Lvl?, Aura (Regeneration, Basic) Lvl?, Aura Ability (Healing, Basic) Lvl?, Combat (Swordlance, Basic) Lvl?, Crafting (Mechashift, Basic) Lvl?, Espionage (Obfuscation, Basic) Lvl?, Hunting (Tracking, Basic) Lvl?, Knowledge (Creatures of Grimm, Basic) Lvl?, Semblance (Ground Control) Lvl?_

 _ **History:** (Skill levels not high enough for full Information)_

 _Gainsborough Grey successfully absolved the Atlas Combat Academy for Hunters, ?_

 _?_

 _But he still managed a fair place in the rankings, ?_

 _Carefully hidden like other Information, ?_

 _He uses a twin sword and sword-lance combination that he calls the twin Lilly's. Each sword can also be used as a gun, and they form together into a twin bladed sword-lance that can ?_

 _His main Hobby apart from training or learning is the use and building of ?_

 _He uses them in many Situations to conceal the fact that he is using his semblance._

 _Or, to be more precise, he is using them to conceal the fact of why he is using his semblance. Namely the fact that ?_

 _? however, with it active he has a perfect sense of balance and spatial relations for everything within his zone of control._

 _One of his Life's goals, apart from Survival is ?_

I was somewhat annoyed by the fact that my Identify was so inadequate, but I suppose I just had to make do.

 _Lets see what all of those interesting little things are._

 _ **Title: "Secret Agent Man"**_

 _This Character has lived the majority of his life a lie. But this denial of truth has him made very good at hiding his true nature. He gets significant bonuses to all Espionage based Skills and Ability's. However, this has not been without drawbacks. This Character is almost pathologically incapable of truly trusting another Person with their Secrets, and will always prefer to keep Things to themselves._

I was happy that I was currently busy weaving branches into each other, otherwise there would probably have been some fairly obvious reaction to reading that title.

 _Well, that's certainly an interesting title, and I guess it explains why I can see so little from his Ability's or Attributes, where as I can see a lot more from even higher leveled Grimm._

 _ **Will of the Downtrodden:**_

 _The World has crushed the Pride and Joy of this Character so many times that nothing can truly shake or shock him anymore. He will never lose his cool or panic, no matter how bad a Situation gets._

After reading this a small sigh escaped between my lips, and I could not help but feel some slight semblance of sympathy for him. Even for all my now monstrous nature, I still had the memories of a lifetime as a Human balancing that out, even if my Instinct told me otherwise. How much crap would someone have to have gone through to become utterly unshaken, no matter what might happen to them?

 _Well, I suppose someone that has nothing to lose, has nothing to fear. And someone who has nothing to fear, will never truly loose his cool or panic. So perhaps he is simply someone who has already lost everything._

 _ **Amateur:**_

 _The Character has a much harder Time picking up new Skills and Knowledge. All Experience gain for the Purpose of Training Skills is reduced by 50%_

I could not help but give of a reaction in the form of a slight cringe upon reading that Disadvantage. But covered that successfully by simply proceeding to shake some water out of my feathers.

 _Yikes. Yeah, I remember that from the Character creation. That's probably one of the worst Disadvantages there is. I guess that means he's not actually all that strong compared to other Huntsman? Or, maybe he simply got that strong regardless, with hard work and grit and all that? I do wonder what caused that though. I mean I hardly think he was born learn disabled or anything. don't think a clinical Idiot can become a Huntsman. I do remember that they are supposed to be the Best of the Best or something. Well, but I guess I will see in time, assuming that I meet more of them in time._

 _Well, whatever the rest is self-explanatory. Now for those status effects._

 _ **Reduced Senses (Balance): Compensated**_

 _The Character has a severely reduced sense of balance, due to the loss of either a Limb important for keeping balance or damage of the inner ear. Regardless of how it happened, the Character has found a way to compensate for that momentarily, however should that fix be undone, the loss of balance would return immediately._

 _ **Allergic Reaction (Minor): -15% Body Attributes**_

 _The Character is suffering from a minor allergic reaction. He came into contact with minute traces of the substance that he has a major allergy against. Brawns, Toughness and Nimbleness are all reduced by 15% until his body has finished ridding itself of the allergen. This Process is sped up by the use of his Aura._

"Snrk.." I could only barely keep my giggle contained, when I considered the obvious, capital Bad Luck of someone with a Major Allergy against Fish being dumped in the Ocean. But I suppose it could have been worse, at least he was fighting Grimm Shark, instead of actual ones.

 _ **Ability (Piercing Thrust, Basic) Lvl?**_

 _The most basic piercing-type special technique. The user puts a great amount of force into a single blow in the hope of piercing his enemy's armor and inflicting critical damage._

 _ **On Level 1 the Technique gives a Bonus of:**_

 _+8% damage_

 _+5% chance for critical hit_

 _+1% hitchance_

 _costs: 100sp per attack_

 _ **Espionage (Obfuscation, Basic) Lvl?**_

 _If you cant beat them, baffle them with bullshit, or so the saying goes. Users of this skill become especially good in hiding information, mostly by burying the truth amongst a thousand lies, or even just by telling the truth but in a way that would never be believed. Of course, a good Pokerface is also a way to hide what you know._

 _ **On Level 1 the Skills gives a Bonus of:**_

 _+2% Charms and Brains and Noticing for the purpose of obfuscating information._

 _He seems to favor the last way of hiding Information, but considering the other options it is perhaps the most unintrusive mask. And now for the perhaps most important part. His Semblance._

 _ **Semblance (Ground Control) Lvl?**_

 _The Semblance called Ground Control allows the User to control all Space around him, with the radius of his Influence growing with his Experience._

 _Within that Zone of Control he can stretch, distort, staunch and perhaps ultimately even rip and disintegrate the base layer of Reality itself. He is capable of essentially creating a Killing Ground wherever he walks. Diverting blows that were sure to hit him, and piercing defenses that should have been impossible to breach._

 _An additional effect is a perfect and all encompassing knowledge of every single object and their spatial relations to each other within that sphere of Influence. At least as long as his semblance is active._

 _Current reach: ? 2m_

At that moment I felt something for the first time in my new life. Envy. For all the powerful Grimm that I had seen, I had known that I could learn their Ability's as well, their strengths could become mine. But this, this wonderfully versatile Ability, I would very likely never be able to attain. Sure, I could try to kill him and using his Allergy against Fish, while he was sleeping, I might even succeed but that would very likely not get me a skill book or anything of the likes, for nothing since my arriving here had suggested that those were even a thing.

Then again, I had not exactly tried to kill any dangerous creatures, Grimm or otherwise, in my time here, being perfectly fine with just slowly getting stronger, not risking my life for some harebrained scheme to get stronger really quickly or die trying. Which in my case would probably lead to the latter part.

On the other hand, I had felt something vaguely reminiscent of his ability, up there between the stars, and in my connection to that starlit sky. A part of my soul was forever connected to that limitless place. By now about a tenth of my aura replenished itself from that otherworldly source, and given some time and more knowledge I would surely be able to use that to my advantage. Perhaps I would be able to create some pale imitation of that ability or something similar but it was too soon, for now.

* * *

 _ **Gainsborough Grey, Survivor of the Crash of the Airturtle 114**_

The Girl.. thing, whatever it was she was, led him to a small camp site. A well tended fire pit, if currently filled with rain water, a hammock, and assorted baskets made from grasses and thin branches. Lying around were various primitive tools, some colorful shells on strings tied between trees, fishbones and the feathers of birds.

He could feel himself relaxing, at least somewhat. For whatever she was, she was no Grimm. For no matter what she might look like, Grimm do not create. They only destroy. They do not build things, make no camp fires or collect shells and feathers from Birds. Or, on a second look, feathers from their own heads. For whatever reason.

She put the bags down at the campsite and slumped down with a heavy sigh, next to the drenched fire site. After picking up a stick with a burned end she looks up at him, points at the ground and sort of waves her hand and stick at him.

"Garble. Garble" ( _Have a seat. Or not. Your Choice. Not like you understand anything I say anyway.)_

After a quick look around he sits down against a tree, somewhat protected from the still strong going rain.

He watches her rummage around the camp site, poking the stick into the fire pit, fidgeting around and then going to one of the baskets and retrieving some lengths of grass and branches and starting to weave something. Every once in while she would stretch, prominently displaying her assets, evidently not caring one whit for the fact that he was watching her every move.

She was now just on the other side of the watery campfire, no more than a body's lengths away from him. More than close enough to study her in detail, the lack of natural Light not bothering him at all. And thanks to the fact that she was well within his zone of Control he could relax, for he knew that even if she should try anything, it would not succeed.

He then proceeded to categorize her looks and obvious ability's, the same way he would for any possible enemy or ally

 _Her skin color is Grimm White, with some very obvious veins of the typical glowing Grimm blood almost radiating through the seemingly thin skin. But on the other hand, I can see no pressure injuries from the very heavy bags that she was carrying, nor any other scars or wounds, apart from some very faint ones on her right hand and arm._

 _She also seems perfectly fine with the cold weather, which would suggest some fairly robust physiology and seems unbothered by sitting on the wet sand while being completely naked. So her skin is either a lot tougher than it looks, or she possesses some impressive regeneration. Considering the ability's that seem common amongst Grimm I would guess a combination of the two._

 _Her fingers seem fairly dexterous, and looking at some of the examples of her workmanship around the campsite I would think she has been at it for a while. Very prominent are of course the Grimm Black Claws, standing out from the White of her skin. They look certainly no less dangerous than those of an Beowulf or an Onza, merely reduced in size. But on the other hand, they also seem to make fine tools, considering the carvings on some pieces of wood here and there, and on the trees surrounding the campsite._

 _The most interesting feature on her is of course her face. It is, almost human, but not quite. Now that I had some time getting used to it, it seems not quite as monstrous as before. Especially the Eyes, squinted in concentration, they alone seems so very Human. Her tongue, glowing red pokes out from one side of her mouth and wanders back and forth as she gives her full focus on her current objective, which seems to be the creation of another basket, or perhaps a Hammock, I cant really tell. Woodworking had never been one of his interests._

After some time, it was steadily getting darker, it seemed that Dusk was approaching she seemingly finished, putting aside her work and focused her attention once more on him.

She made a sort of growling, cracking noise, while holding her balled fist in front of her mouth. It reminds him mostly of a large cat coughing up a fur-ball made from solid concrete.

He wondered about the gesture and sound for a moment, until he realized that she was watching him attentively and had merely been clearing her throat to get his full attention.

As soon as he watched her she pointed at herself and made some cracking noises interspersed with some light screeching.

His first reaction is a repeated blinking. Her reaction to that is a strange look in her face, followed by a repeated pointing at herself and the same noise as before.

After some slight thinking he realized that she was probably introducing herself and that it would be seemly if he were to do the same. He would likely never be able to actually pronounce her name, but that should not stop him from at least giving her his.

"Grey. Gainsborough Grey."

They then repeat each others name several times, and while he remained incapable of speaking hers, she very quickly became capable of pronouncing his.

After a short time spend in silence both seemingly staring at the slowly dripping rain she started to rummage around in one of the baskets and proceeds to pull out a fish, that while not rotten, did not look all that fresh either.

Just the look of it was almost enough to make him climb the tree behind himself, but his self-control proved stronger than his instinctive fear of fish.

She proceeds to wave said fish around in the air in front of him, probably meant as an invitation. Alas, he wove her off and shook his head. She accepted that denial with a shrug of her shoulders and proceeded to eat said fish, scales, fins, bones and all.

The mere sight almost made him nauseous.

After some short time seemingly spent in thought she proceeded to grab various items around the camp site, shaking them in the air in front of him all the while making questioning noises.

After getting a word as an answer she repeats said word until she gets it right and then repeats said game with another item.

"Stick"

"Another Stick"

"Yet another Stick"

"A Rock"

"A somewhat shinier Rock"

"A Shell"

"Another Shell"

"A Shell with some dried Clam inside it."

"A Bug"

"Another Bug"

"A Feather."

 _She seems remarkably fast at learning another language. After getting a word right once, she never gets it wrong again. And even her pronunciation seems to improve rapidly, from a very heavy, almost not understandably accent, to a faint, almost charming one_.

"A Sharpened Stone."

"You"

"Me"

"A Tree"

"Another Tree"

"Rain?"

"The Sky? Maybe Clouds?" He shrugged. "No Idea what you want this time."

 _She seems almost excited by this question and answering game. Smiling every time she gets another word right, remembers another object by its correct name._

Her somewhat childlike behavior made it very hard for him to see her as any real danger and the more they talked, the more he explained, the more distracted he grew from his close encounter with death, allowing him, if only for a few short moments, to forget what happened but some hours ago.

It is night when the rain finally tapers out, but thick clouds are still covering the sky. She spends a few moments seemingly scowling at the covered sky before simply climbing into her hammock, completely ignoring him, and within a short time start to gently snore away.

* * *

 **AN: So, that was that for now. Oh, and if anyone of you feels up to being a Beta, or even just someone to bounce Ideas off of, I`d be happy for the Help.**


End file.
